


The World of Humans and Monsters

by Mark432



Series: The Saga of Humans and Monsters [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alphys is a Karmic Magician, Asgore and Toriel Suck in Separate But Equal Ways, Asgore is a Dimwitted Bum, Asgore is not Frisk's Father, Asgore is not a Sage or a Murderer... he is a Dimwit, Bigotry & Prejudice, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Frisk is Angry and they have every reason to be, Monsters are Hypocrites, Multi, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Papyrus Is Not A Cinnamon Roll, Papyrus is a Selfish Fool, Papyrus is a Useless Guy, Persecution Flip, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route - "I have places to go.", Prejudice Against Humans (Undertale), SOUL Absorption (Undertale), SOUL Mechanics (Undertale), Sans Is Not A Good Person, Sans is not Frisk's Dad or Uncle or Friend, Toriel Is Just As Pathetic As Asgore, Toriel is a Hypocritical Shrew, Toriel is not Frisk's Mother, Undyne is a Racist B!#@&, Undyne is not a True Heroine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 39,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26088391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mark432/pseuds/Mark432
Summary: Most Post-Pacifist AU fics are simple. Humans are bad and monsters are good. Human prejudice is a minor obstacle to be overcome with a few cheesy speeches. But not this time, for the monsters of Mount Ebott have entered a larger world with different values and different people. And while humans are flawed, what did monsters do to deserve such a pedestal, anyway?Trope Page that I got chewed out for making, because even though you're NOT allowed to recommend your own fanfics, you ARE allowed to make Trope Pages for your own works: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/TheWorldOfHumansAndMonsters
Relationships: Alphys & Papyrus (Undertale), Alphys & Sans (Undertale), Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Asgore Dreemurr & Toriel, Bratty & Catty (Undertale), Frisk & Frisk's Mother, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Papyrus & Undyne (Undertale), Sans & Undyne (Undertale), Sans - Relationship, Sans/His Apathy, Undyne/Her Ego
Series: The Saga of Humans and Monsters [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072622
Comments: 86
Kudos: 31





	1. A New Tale Begins

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided to go back to something I've had on my mind for a while. You see, after reading dozens of Post-Pacifist AU fics with the same exact story beats (Toriel adopts Frisk, Toriel is the perfect Goat Mom who can do no wrong, Sans is overprotective of Frisk and defends them from politically incorrect humans who deliberately misgender Frisk (like in the overrated PTA AU), Sans hooks up with Toriel or Grillby or Papyrus or the Reader or even an AU version of himself, Frisk's biological mother is abusive or racist or neglectful or dead or refuses to use they/them pronouns, Frisk saves Asriel and Chara with a Deus ex Machina, Chara is a voice in Frisk's head and guilt trips them over the Genocide Run for the umpteenth time, Chara is a troubled child who did nothing wrong, Frisk/The Player is solely responsible for the Genocide Route and the Fallen Child bears no responsibility whatsoever, Papyrus is an ignorant Cinnamon Roll who's innocence needs to be protected at all costs, Undyne is a badass heroine who everyone admires, Alphys is widely adored for her adorkable persona, Asgore is the butt-monkey for the sake of a few cheap punchlines, humans are mostly accepting of monsters except for some cis-white-male-scum or a racist white politician or a bigoted Republican or a Donald Trump expy or some politically incorrect stereotypical suburban racist white women, etc.), I've started to get a bit weary of such clichés.
> 
> Instead of adding yet another fanfic to the pile of fanfics that gush about why the Undertale crew is amazing and why humans suck, I want to leave the beaten path to explore some possible ideas about the Surface, since Toby Fox never actually showed us what happened after the True Pacifist Epilogue (aside from stating that humans and monsters lived in peace with only a tiny bit of racism, somehow). (And since Deltarune takes place in an alternate universe, it means that almost everything about the Undertale Surface is pretty much up for fanon interpretation.)
> 
> What if there were already humans and monsters living together on the Surface? What would the long history of such a world look like? And how exactly do you worldbuild a society where a monster with one human soul has access to powerful magic, and where any monster who absorbs six or seven human souls has the potential to gain godlike power and warp time and space with impunity?
> 
> …Sigh. Look, considering how beloved the Undertale cast is and that my opinions of them are… somewhat unpopular… I could get some flak for writing this. Especially since OCs typically get a bad rep at times (either because they're Mary Sues, Marty Stus, or just poorly written in general). That's fine. I just want to explore one possible interpretation of what the Surface could look like.
> 
> Now, shall we get started?

_Far into the future, in another reality, all the way on the other side of the multiverse, there is a world where humans and monsters have existed together since the dawn of time._

_These two races can come in all manner of shapes and sizes, but what truly sets them apart is the nature of their souls._

_Humans have inherently stronger souls, and this usually means that the average human is much stronger than the average monster, so much so that a determined human has the wretched power to kill a hundred monsters with killing intent alone._

_But there is an equally wretched power that can counter this, for every monster on the Surface has the ability to absorb a human's soul and take that precarious strength for themselves._

_With all of the millions upon millions of timelines in this unique reality, is it truly implausible to say that monsters could never be capable of harming humanity?_

_But perhaps that is a question for another time, and another place._

_For now, let us observe the heroes of the UNDERTALE, the monsters who have only just begun to enjoy their hard-earned freedom._

_But as the monsters of Mount Ebott take their first steps into the society known as Riverview City, there is a weary human child who's patience has reached their limit…_

* * *

As the sun shone brightly, up high in the sky, three individuals slowly walked along the forest path, away from the mountain that had been a prison for so many centuries.

The first was Toriel, an elderly Boss Monster who was eager to push aside the regrets of her past and start anew, with the monsters' young human savior by her side as her beloved child. Toriel did not have many plans for the moment, but since Frisk had been rather tightly lipped about their origins, Toriel desperately hoped that Frisk would allow her to adopt them, so that they could stay with her forever.

The second was Sans, a lazy, apathetic skeleton who couldn't help but feel skeptical of the monsters' surprisingly good fortune. Sure, the human child had gone out of their way to do the right thing and spare everyone and break the Barrier in a peaceful manner, but Sans couldn't help but feel concerned about the fact that Frisk could have easily chosen to kill everyone in the Underground… for any number of reasons.

And the third was Frisk, who just wanted to go home and sleep.

As the three of them walked along the path, they came across a modest, two-story house that stood at the edge of the city, the landmark that Toriel and Sans had seen from the cliffs of Mount Ebott.

Toriel initially passed by the house, but she stopped when Frisk abruptly left the path and began walking towards the house.

"Where are you going, my child?" said Toriel.

Frisk took a deep breath and sighed, while Sans watched intently from a distance.

"Well, it's been fun. We've been on an entertaining adventure full of exciting times and good food… but now it's time for me to get back to my life." said Frisk.

Toriel looked over at Sans in confusion, but Sans merely shrugged.

"What are you talking about, Frisk?" Toriel questioned.

"This the house where my mother and I live, duh." Frisk grunted.

Toriel was shocked. Frisk had never mentioned having a family of their own, so…

"Let me guess, you just assumed that I ran away from a stereotypically abusive household, didn't you?" Frisk huffed, crossing their arms.

"well, we all thought you might have had a pretty good reason for you to fall into the underground so…" Sans offered, only to stop when Frisk gave him the evil eye.

"Hah! What makes you think you know anything about me?" Frisk laughed. "In fact, I'm curious… what do the two of you actually know about me, off of the top of your head?"

Toriel and Sans shared a look of wariness, as the human child had turned rather hostile all of a sudden.

"Well, Frisk, we know that you are kind and patient. You learned the importance of conversing with your foes instead of harming them, and we are certainly grateful for the help you have given us through your mercy." Toriel gave Frisk a warm smile.

Sans said nothing due to skepticism, only to relent when Toriel gave him a questioning look.

"alright… off of the top of my head… you're a pretty decent human kid, all things considered. you act weird at times and i sometimes have trouble figuring out what you're thinking, but you always strive to do the right thing will a big smile on your face. it's why i rooted you back in the judgement hall." Sans grinned, hoping that his platitudes would suffice.

"Hm. I'd like to say that your words make me feel really happy, and I'm glad you care so much about me…" said Frisk, giving the two monsters an odd smile.

"And we are glad that you care about us-"

"aw, shucks, kid-"

"Of course, I'm not a liar, so I'm not going to say any of that." Frisk growled, their expression suddenly changing to that of anger and irritation.

The Boss Monster and the skeleton hastily took a step back as Frisk glared at them.

"I mean, I had to go through hell and back just to get rid of the Barrier, and this is the thanks I get? A few condescending words about the importance of believing in the power of friendship while singing kumbaya?" Frisk spat into the dirt.

"Frisk, please try to calm down. Perhaps if you take a deep breath-"

"NO! ABSOULTELY NOT! This stupid adventure is over, and I've finally got the chance to tell you exactly how I feel about everything." Frisk hissed, prompting Toriel and Sans to try and interrupt.

"My child, please-"

"kid, stop-"

"From the first moment I fell into the Underground, everyone I have met has tried to belittle me, insult me, mock me, attack me, hurt me, eat me, or kill me… and not a single monster apologized for how everybody treated me like dirt, so why would I want to spend any more time with you lot!?"

Toriel and Sans were speechless. There was no way that a child as kind and compassionate as Frisk could ever say such horrid things… right?

"I am not your child, Miss Toriel. And after all of the bullshit I've been through, I'm not asking for much. You've got your freedom, and I don't owe you people anything, so I want you to just GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALON-"

But before Frisk could finish their angry rant, the door to the house suddenly swung open, revealing a middle-aged human woman with brown hair, brown eyes, and olive skin. In short, she bore a striking resemblance to Frisk.

"What's with all this… commotion?" the woman trailed off when she saw Frisk.

"Huh? Mom-" Frisk was cut off when the woman rushed up to Frisk and grabbed them in a bear hug.

"I…I thought I lost you, sweetie…" said the woman, refusing to release her child from her arms.

After a few weak protests, Frisk relented because they were simply glad to be home, regardless of what the monsters thought.

Sans took a moment to look at Toriel. The elderly woman's expression was rather stiff, and she was gazing at the two humans with a rather bitter look in her eyes…

* * *

Toriel glared at the cup of tea in her clawed hands while sitting on a couch.

"What's the matter? Is there something wrong with the tea?" said the woman who sat across from her on a similar couch, one that was separated by a medium-sized coffee table.

"…This is Golden Flower tea." Toriel muttered.

"Yeah, it's a really popular brand around these parts." said the woman. "I've been told that it's well-loved by botanists and gardeners-"

Toriel stiffened.

"…Are you all right? You've been rather tense ever since you sat down." The woman helpfully noted.

"No… I am fine, human…" Toriel deflected, only to realize that she did not know the name of… Frisk's mother.

"Oh, right. Introductions." The woman muttered, before clearing her throat. "My name is Sarah, Sarah Amherst. I'm a retired magician who's been trying to quietly live out my retirement with my child, Frisk… who I assume you are already familiar with."

Sarah nodded to Frisk, who was quietly sitting on her left.

Frisk said nothing, simply opting to drink their cup of tea, enjoying the unique taste of honey, lemon juice, basil, and vanilla extract.

On Toriel's right side, Sans lounged against his section of the couch, sipping from his trademark ketchup bottle.

As the three mammals (and the one skeleton) enjoyed their beverages, Sarah decided to ask something that had been weighing on her.

"So, Toriel and Sans, was it?" she asked, wanting to confirm the names of her two guests.

Toriel and Sans both nodded.

"Right… so, how exactly did the two of you meet my child, anyways?" Sarah asked, vocalizing the question that most responsible parents tend to have when strangers meet their children.

The two monsters winced with discomfort, as Sarah tone had turned slightly hostile, and not without good reason.

Sarah did not know the specifics of Frisk's harrowing journey in the Underground, but if she was aware of all the monsters who had attempted to end her child's life, attempts that were made in an effort to obtain their soul for the greater good… then she likely would have thrown a huge fit right there and then.

Fortunately for the monsters, Sarah did not know this.

Unfortunately for the monsters, they now had to come up with a logical, more politically correct explanation for why they were familiar with Frisk.

"alright, let me start off my saying-" Sans began in a casual tone.

"Sans, let me handle this." Toriel interrupted, springs Sans and Sarah.

"what? you don't think i can sweet-talk one human lady?" Sans grinned, only to shrink back when Toriel gave him the evil eye.

"Not with that tone, you cannot." Toriel hissed, before leaning in closely so that the human woman and her child could not listen in on their conversation. "Need I remind you of all the trouble that arose because of Asgore's foolish policies? Besides, there is a good chance that Frisk may…"

The two monsters looked at the child, who merely raised an eyebrow in irritation.

Toriel leaned back up.

"Ahem. Sarah, around one day ago, your child fell into our kingdom, the Kingdom of Monsters, which is currently located within the location that you know as Mount Ebott. I came across them when I was tending to a local bed of flowers, and I asked them if they would prefer to rest at my cottage for a short time."

Sarah pondered this for a moment.

"Is this true, sweetie?" Sarah asked Frisk.

Toriel involuntarily held her breath, fearful of what Frisk would do next.

Frisk looked at the other three people in the room: the mother who was patiently waiting for a response, the goat woman who was waiting for the proverbial axe to drop, and the skeleton who looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than this room.

"…Yes." said Frisk.

As Toriel wearily exhaled, Sarah still had a few concerns.

"But… what exactly were you doing on Mount Ebott, anyways, sweetie? It's practically a thirty-minute hike from here. Don't tell me you were sleepwalking…" Sarah prodded.

As Toriel and Sans leaned over the table in thinly veiled interest, Frisk sighed.

"Would you believe me if I said that an evil spirit possessed me and dragged me to the mountain in my sleep?"

Toriel and Sans blinked in confusion.

"evil spirit? what the heck are you talking about, kid?" Sans scoffed in disbelief.

Frisk suddenly whipped their head around to stare at Sans with a perfectly neutral expression.

"I'm certainly glad you asked, Sans. They were interested in the color of my soul. They called themselves the Fallen Child… and their name… was Chara."

Toriel suddenly lost her grip on her teacup, and the tea began to seep into the carpet.

"Oh, no no no!" Sarah groaned, quickly pulling out a roll of paper towels from her pocket and pressing some sheets into the carpet stain, outside section first.

"Oh, my goodness, I did not mean to-" Toriel tried to grab a few paper towels and wipe away the stain, only to be waved away by Sarah.

"Blot! Don't wipe! Blot!" Sarah hissed, as she continued to blot out the stain while pulling out some cleaning solution.

Meanwhile, Sans took a moment to observe Frisk, who was still sitting quietly.

"Hm. Looks like some mistakes are surprisingly hard to wipe away. Wouldn't you agree, Sans?" Frisk smiled, which made Sans feel uneasy.

* * *

After spending a few minutes cleaning up Toriel's spilled tea, Sarah was feeling a bit annoyed.

"So, who exactly is Chara?" Sarah asked Toriel, looking at her with suspicion.

"hey, lady. that's a pretty rude question-"

Toriel held up a palm to silence Sans and took a deep breath to gather her wits.

"…Chara was a human child that I adopted long ago… and they… are… no longer… with… us." Toriel explained, keeping her composure.

Sarah and Toriel looked each other in the eye for a long moment, one mother to another.

"You have my condolences." Sarah nodded, and waited for Toriel to continue.

"And as for how… your… child… knows their name… I do not know." Toriel admitted, as the two women turned to Frisk.

"Look, I'm not completely sure of the specifics of how it happened. All I remember is going to sleep in my bed as usual, and then waking up on a flowerbed with an annoying ghost kid named Chara who had red eyes and was wearing a green-and-yellow striped shirt, who was hissing at me for some stupid reason. I have no idea why they looked like a kid from a photograph that was over a hundred years old." Frisk grunted.

The three adults were speechless.

"uhh… so… where are they now?" Sans inquired.

"I gave them the boot. They're gone."

"gone…? gone where?"

"Just… gone."

Sans had nothing to say to that.

Frisk turned to look at their mother.

"Also, mom, can I go get some sleep now? I'm really, really tired."

Sarah hesitated, before nodding.

Frisk immediately bolted up and ran up the stairs to their bedroom, firmly shutting the door behind them.

"Right… so…" Sarah began, only to falter when she noticed a few tears welling up in Toriel's eyes.

Sarah tried to think of a way to comfort the grieving woman, but Toriel suddenly stood up and opened her muzzle to say something, only to shake her head, huff, and march out the front doorway with her head held high.

Sarah turned to look at the only other person in the room.

"Is she usually like that?" Sarah nodded in the direction that Toriel had went.

Sans hesitated for a moment, but then settled for shrugging and nodding.

"So, what exactly happened between you lot and my child, anyway?" Sarah pressed the short skeleton.

Sans decided to see what he could get away with saying to the woman's face.

"nothing much, really. the old lady brought the kid out of the ruins, where they met my brother and i in snowdin town. we kept an eyesocket out for the kid as they befriended a bunch of people in waterfall, hotland, and the capitol, new home."

Sans tried to read Sarah's expression, but it was frustratingly neutral, suggesting that she had at least a few years of conversational experience under her belt.

"And then?"

"and then… we hit a snag, 'cause we monsters were still trapped by this magic barrier that some human sages set up in ancient times to trap us forever." Sans warily admitted… in a rather roundabout sort of way.

"A Seven-Soul Barrier, then." Sarah noted Sans's look of confusion. "I'm a retired magician, Sans. I know plenty of things about the magic of our world. For example, I know that it takes seven human souls to create that sort of Barrier, and that it also takes seven human souls to break it." Sarah growled, not liking where the conversation was leading.

"hey! hey! lady! not a single one of us tried to take your kid's soul!" Sans lied.

"Oh, really?" Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Then how did you break the Barrier without using my child's soul, pray tell?"

"uh…" Sans faltered, because he couldn't answer the question even if he wanted to.

"I'm waiting…" Sarah hissed.

"welp. would you believe me-"

Sarah suddenly grabbed Sans by fabric of his hoodie, lifting him up to eye level.

Sans debated the merits of throwing out another blatant excuse instead of teleporting away like a coward… but then he began to hear a low growling sound coming from the human, who's mouth was bared in a snarl of rage.

Seeing that the woman known as Sarah Amherst looked just about ready to murder him in the name of her child's safety, Sans decided to stop bullshitting for once, realizing that the woman's canine teeth were starting to resemble a monster's sharp fangs… possibly due to a trick of the light.

"i honestly don't remember."

Sarah stopped growling, took a deep breath, and stared intently into Sans's eyes.

After searching for something in the skeleton's expression, Sarah slowly lowered him to the ground.

"Then what do you remember?" Sarah pressed, giving the skeleton a reminder to be honest.

"okay, look… asgore, our king, wanted to use seven human souls to break the barrier so we could leave the mountain-"

"And go after the local humans on the Surface, right?" Sarah grunted.

"yep… and we already had six souls."

"And my child was lucky number seven. I see how it is." Sarah spat.

"hey, lady-"

"You can stop with the excuses, Sans. Hurry and finish your story so I can decide what to do with you." Sarah huffed.

"… we all knew that frisk would have to confront asgore to decide the future of humans and monsters, so a bunch of us decided to tag along to make sure that neither of them would kill each other."

"Because that was the only way the matter could have been settled… aside from… asking seven human children to briefly press their souls to the Barrier and shatter it that way? Or searching for literally any other method where six human children wouldn't have to die?"

Sans looked at Sarah in disbelief, but Sarah just pursed her lips while glaring at him.

"anyways… we rushed into to asgore's throne room, toriel stopped asgore from pulling out his weapon, and then next thing we knew, the barrier was gone, and frisk was waking up."

"That's it?" Sarah questioned, incredulously. "That doesn't answer my question."

"i know, but that's all we can remember." Sans earnestly spoke, admitting that there were a few blank spots in his memory.

"All right. The way I see it…" Sarah stood up with an air of finality. "Half of you tried to kill my child and take their soul to break the Barrier, while the other half turned a blind eye because you all wanted the Barrier to be gone. Does that sound about right, Sans?"

"…if i say yes-"

Sans suddenly noticed a powerful aura of magic coming from the angry mother.

He tried to teleport away, but was shocked to discover that he couldn't, because his magical energy was somehow leaving his body and spilling out into the room, joining Sarah's aura of barely restrained immolation.

"Surprised? I figured that your power was teleportation… the perfect tool for a dirty coward." Sarah grunted. "And in case you haven't figured it out, I wasn't kidding when I said I was a retired magician."

Paralyzed by magically induced exhaustion, Sans was helpless to stop Sarah from approaching him.

"It's why I've spent years layering my household with dozens upon dozens of wards against magical threats of all shapes and sizes… and while I'm not sure how one entity managed to get past them, I plan on rectifying this very soon."

Face to face, Sans felt an impending sense of doom, as Sarah look at him with a mixture of anger, rage, hatred… and disappointment.

"And let me give you one last piece of advice, comedian." Sarah growled. "If you or any other member of your kingdom… ever tries to murder my child again… I will hunt you down and kill each and every one of you. Got that?"

Sans nodded, before finally managing to draw up enough magical reserves to teleport in the blink of an eye.

Finally alone, Sarah took a deep breath and collapsed on her couch.

Then, she pulled out her smartphone and started typing in some numbers.

She had a call to make.


	2. Of Monsters and Human Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mistakes are natural part of life. We all make mistakes from time to time, for that is how we change and grow as individuals. Children are constantly told that it is okay to make mistakes as long as they learn from them, and yet these children are constantly punished and reprimanded for their mistakes, so much so that they inherently become afraid of failure, and they become terrified of how others will judge them if they dare to leave the safety and comfort of their households.
> 
> But how should be a mistake be judged?
> 
> By the person's intent?
> 
> By the fallout of the mistake?
> 
> By the severity of the mistake?
> 
> By the number of people affected by it?
> 
> Or by how it personally affects the judger?
> 
> What happens if someone does not believe they have made a mistake even though the public's evidence is against them?
> 
> What happens if someone is accused of making a mistake even if they haven't done anything wrong?
> 
> And besides, children are not the only ones who can make mistakes.

After leaving the house of Frisk and Sarah Amherst, Toriel began to march down the road, fuming all the while.

A few hours earlier, Toriel's biggest concern was whether or not Frisk would allow her to adopt them, but just now, Frisk had dropped a rather huge bombshell… that they had apparently encountered the spirit of Toriel's deceased human child, Chara.

Toriel abruptly stopped, incredulous of what had just transpired within her mind.

Frisk's bold statement was absolutely preposterous! There was simply no way that Chara could have somehow returned from beyond the grave after all this time… right? No, surely not!

And yet… there are countless legends of what Determination can do, of how a determined individual can defy-

Vigorously shaking her head again, Toriel began to aimlessly wander along the city roads, desperately trying to organize her thoughts.

Her mind began to cycle through some rather uncomfortable topics, haunted memories that had been pushed aside up until now…

The War. The Barrier. Chara and Asriel. Asgore's Plan. The Human Children. Frisk.

Frisk. Asgore's Plan. The War. The Barrier. Chara and Asriel. The Human Children.

The Barrier. Chara and Asriel. Asgore's Plan. The Human Children. Frisk. The War.

Chara and Asriel. The War. The Human Children. Frisk. Asgore's Plan. The Barrier.

Asgore's Plan. Chara and Asriel. Frisk. The War. The Barrier, The Human Children.

The Human Children. Frisk. Chara and Asriel. The Barrier. The War. Asgore's Plan.

Toriel's thoughts began to circle around, over and over, even as she desperately searched for something, anything, that would allow her to reconcile all the turmoil she thought she had overcome, only to become fixated on the crushing weight of her past.

There was a time when Toriel truly believed that humans and monsters could live in peace, for in the ancient times, the two races lived in harmony… and blissful ignorance.

Many would say that it was ignorance that made the humans launch a sudden attack on the monsters, who were kind, compassionate pacifists who had no desire to fight humanity.

There was a time where Toriel herself would express this belief to any monster who asked her about it, especially to the younger monsters like Undyne, the soon-to-be former Captain of Asgore's Royal Guard.

But recently, Toriel had begun to wonder if it was the discovery of forbidden knowledge that drove the monsters into Mount Ebott, for it was the knowledge of a monster's ability to absorb human souls that started the war in the first place, and if that revelation about souls had never come to light, then perhaps everyone would have been better off in the end…

Taking a deep breath, Toriel looked up to find herself standing on a small stone bridge that stood above a rather modest river.

As she listened to the quiet gurgling of the flowing water, the Boss Monster found herself at a loss at what to do.

The Barrier was gone, and she and her subjects were now free to chase after their hearts' desires.

The monsters had all shot off in different directions and started walking.

Toriel had planned on finding a child to care for in order to ease the pain in her soul, and when her plans for Frisk had gone sour, she began to fancy the idea of becoming a school teacher, in order to care for young children in a more roundabout way.

And yet, the old woman had never questioned why she was so determined to find children to look after, even though she had had centuries to self-reflect.

Deep within the remains of her shriveled soul, Toriel knew why she had clung to her beliefs and her ideals as the Underground changed for the worst under Asgore's misguided intentions.

But she could not admit it. She could never admit it, for if she had ever stopped blaming Asgore for everything that had gone wrong in her life… then she would have had to find another person to blame.

For in the end, Toriel Dreemurr is many things.

Toriel Dreemurr is compassionate. Toriel Dreemurr is experienced. Toriel Dreemurr is powerful.

But Toriel Dreemurr has never been humble, and she never will be. Her pride will not allow for it.

Hubris is a fatal flaw that has existed since the dawn of time.

And until she can accept this fatal flaw of hers, Toriel Dreemurr will never understand the difference between power and strength.

For obliterating your foes with magic is far easier than confronting the demons that dwell within…

* * *

Toriel did not know for how long she stood on the bridge.

Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days?

Time has a very different meaning for a Boss Monster, a tortured creature who only ages as her children age, and if she has no children, or if she loses her children to an unfortunate accident-

On the cusp of a mental breakdown, Toriel suddenly realized that someone was poking her in the side.

Numbly, Toriel slowly looked down and to her right, meeting the solemn gaze of another elderly monster, an anthropomorphic turtle known as Gerson.

"…Milady."

"...Gerson?"

"Aye, that's me. It's good to see you haven't forgotten everything about the past, yet." Gerson huffed.

Toriel was slightly dumbfounded. She hadn't seen her old friend ever since… well, ever since she left New Home in a huff, over a century ago.

Gerson was a very old monster, one who had been good friends with Toriel and Asgore even before the ancient war occurred.

And even after the horrid business with the war had come to an end, Gerson had always been a trusted ally in the affairs of the Kingdom of Monsters… so why was he looking at Toriel with distain, of all things?

After getting a good look at Toriel's haunted expression, Gerson turned to look over the bridge, glowering at the water.

"Some folks have been looking for you, you know." Gerson muttered.

"…I beg your pardon?" Toriel asked.

"A little while earlier, some humans in fancy suits approached me, telling they were looking for the leader of the folks from Mount Ebott. Said that the mayor of the city had some important business to discuss with them." Gerson huffed.

Toriel took a moment to consider this.

"And you decided to look for me instead of Asgore?"

"I told the two wankers to piss off because I was very familiar with the King and Queen… and I told them that the two of you were nothing but a pair of cowardly fools."

Toriel bristled at this.

"Why did you say that? Surely you are aware of what Asgore did in my absence-"

"Aware? Oh, I was more than aware! I literally marched up to the throne room and told Asgore that he was being a fool, multiple times! He wouldn't listen to a word I said!" Gerson gestured wildly.

"But what does that have to do with me-"

"Do I really have to answer that? After what happened the last time we spoke?"

Toriel gave Gerson a blank stare.

"Oh, of course you forgot, didn't you." Gerson groaned. "It's hard to believe you've become this forgetful… and yet a part of me wonders if you forgot on purpose."

"Gerson, what are you talking about? The last time we talked was when I left the capitol."

"Aye, that was a different conversation, where we eventually had to agree to disagree about how to handle your husband's-"

"Ex-husband's." Toriel grumbled.

"…Policies, polices that got six human children butchered."

Toriel flinched, even as Gerson gave her the evil eye.

"Gerson, you know why I had to leave. I could not bear to see Asgore in such a hateful state, and I had to bury my child's body-"

"Toriel, we both knew you were just using that as an excuse to run away and barricade yourself in the Ruins." Gerson shot back.

Toriel clenched her fists in indignation.

"…How… how dare you! Can you tell me that you truly understand the pain of losing both of your children in one evening!?" Toriel shouted, looming over the old turtle.

"No, but if you really think you're the only one who's suffered over the centuries, then you're an even bigger fool than Ol' Fluffybuns." Gerson calmly replied, causing Toriel to deflate slightly.

After meeting Toriel's glare with a steely gaze, Gerson sighed and tapped his fingers on the stone railing of the bridge.

"It's hard to say what was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, but if I had to guess, it would be the situation that happened with the lad who had a Justice soul."

"The one with…"

"The cowboy hat and the toy gun that could shoot magical projectiles as well as any monster could, aye."

* * *

"You haven't tried to attack me like the others have." said the child.

"…Kid, if it's a fight you want, you should be looking elsewhere. I'm an old man, and you're certainly a crack shot with that pistol of yours." Gerson nodded towards the piles of dust that lay just down the road.

"That was self-defense."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes! All of those varmints tried to kill me on sight, and I had to shoot about half of them to terrify the rest into running away!"

Upon seeing how Gerson's expression had remained unchanged, the child became quite furious.

"You know, y'all are nuts. You lot keep preaching about pacifism, and yet y'all are the most violent folks I've ever laid eyes on. Where's the justice in that? It makes me think that y'all deserve to stay down here forever, away from the humans and monsters on the Surface."

Something in Gerson's face made the child pause.

"Yeah, there are monsters living with humans on the Surface. Not many, and they tend to live away from the big cities, but they're there, and there were more than enough of your kind to chase me to this damn mountain, after all."

Gerson pondered this for a moment.

"So, what exactly are you planning on doing when you get to New Home, anyway?"

"…If I said I was going to hold the King accountable for what he did to the other children who fell before me, would you stop me?"

* * *

Toriel was rather taken aback.

"And you simply let him go? For what reason?"

"For the same reason you let him go before I did. A determined human with magic can kill an awful lot of monsters if they put their mind to it." said Gerson.

"I… he fell down into a lower level of the Ruins before I could catch…" Toriel stopped upon seeing Gerson's look of exasperation.

"What does that have to do with anything? Intentions don't mean jack shit anymore, not between people like us. We both know what happened in the end."

And Gerson was right, for Toriel did know the inevitable fate of the sixth child.

The righteous young boy known as Clover eventually made his way to New Home, and he became the sixth human to have his soul harvested by Asgore.

It was a pyrrhic victory for monsterkind, for Clover had killed all of the soldiers in the Royal Guard, forcing Asgore to scramble for new volunteers.

"That was how Undyne eventually became the new Captain of the Royal Guard, because we lost a lot of good folk that day. And if I hadn't forced the lass to sleep off her cold in the back of my shop…"

The two monsters shared a long look.

"After that, I decided that enough was enough, and I gave Asgore an ultimatum: stop beating around the bush and absorb the souls… or let someone else do it."

Toriel opened her muzzle, but then shut it because there was no point in asking what Asgore did in response.

Asgore Dreemurr is many things. He is compassionate and empathetic and generous… but he is not brave.

It is simply not in his nature.

And when faced with an impossible choice of what to do with the human souls… Asgore caved under the pressure and decided that the only logical choice was not to make any choice at all, and to ignore the problem until the end of time.

Which is hardly a good thing when you consider the peculiar details of a Boss Monster's natural lifespan.

"…And I suppose that was when we… last… spoke?"

"…You seriously have to ask!?"

* * *

Gerson furiously banged his fist on the ornate stone door that stood deep withing Snowdin Forest, demanding an answer from the caretaker who lived in the Ruins.

"Milady! I know you're in there! Open this damned door!"

"Go away! I will not abandon my duties! Who will take care of the children that fall into the Ruins?"

"Who cares about that? Asgore's going to get us all killed, and you've certainly done a FINE job of protecting the SIX DEAD CHILDREN WHO PASSED THROUGH HERE WITHOUT YOUR HELP!"

Gerson waited for a reply, but he never received one.

For Toriel had already retreated back to her cottage instead of dignifying his words with a response, and Gerson's magic wasn't powerful enough to break through Toriel's protective enchantment on the door.

Throwing up his arms in despair, Gerson slowly turned around and began to make his way back towards Waterfall, having lost all faith in the future prospects of his fellow monsters.

* * *

Gerson took several deep breaths, having finished his rant.

"So… where does that leave us, Gerson?" Toriel whispered.

Gerson said nothing, refusing to look at his old friend, the Queen.

"…Gerson?"

"I… honesty don't know." Gerson admitted. "When Frisk passed through the Underground, I was almost certain that they would be the end of us. You've felt the Determination in that child's soul, the sort of energy that makes you shudder just thinking about it."

Toriel tried not to dwell on what Gerson was implying about Frisk's nature.

"And yet we're all still alive, somehow. We're back on the Surface again..." Gerson muttered, gazing up at the sun with nostalgia.

Toriel couldn't think of anything to refute, so she settled for gazing upwards as well, wanting to enjoy the scenery instead of wallowing in her troubles.

"Hey, um… is this a bad moment?" came a voice from the side.

Toriel slowly turned around to glare at two individuals: a young woman with green eyes, red hair and fox ears… and a young man with blue eyes, black hair, and wolf ears.

Local monsters, perhaps?

Rather annoyed by the interruption, Toriel calmly walked up to the fox woman.

"I mean, you guys seemed like you were busy having a serious discussion, and I know it's not polite to butt in on another person's business, but our boss is getting… really… antsy…" the woman trailed off, as Toriel was now glaring down at her with a considerable height advantage.

"Eeep!"

Suddenly, the fox monster reached into her pocket, pulled out a small green orb and threw it down on the bridge.

Upon shattering, the orb released a thick cloud of smoke, obscuring the area and causing Toriel and Gerson to cough.

When the smoke cleared and Toriel managed to blink away the tears in her eyes, she saw that the fox monster had vanished, while the wolf monster was shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"I'm David, that was Briar, and we're looking for the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Monsters." said the wolf monster named David.

"This again?" Gerson complained.

The old turtle looked like he wanted to say more, but then he shook his head in disbelief.

"Whatever it is you people want, I want nothing to do with it!" said Gerson, turning around and walking in the other direction.

"Where are you going!?" Toriel called out.

"I've said my piece, milady! You and your ex-husband are fools, and I was the biggest fool of them all for thinking I could talk some sense to either one of you! I'm leaving before you force me to lie in the grave you've dug for us all!" Gerson shouted back in defiance.

Toriel was rather dumbfounded by this.

"Ahem. Queen Dreemurr-"

"Do not call me Dreemurr, young man." said Toriel, turning around to glower at David.

"…My father, Mayor Livingston, needs to speak with you and the King. It's an important matter that concerns your subjects." David insisted.

Toriel breathed out a sigh of exhaustion.

"Very well, if it is truly that important, I will meet your father myself."

"Uh, shouldn't we go grab your husband first?" came Briar's voice from down the road.

Toriel looked in the direction that the voice was coming from and spotted a humanoid-shaped shimmer in the air.

"I shall handle the affairs of my ex-husband myself, young lady." Toriel growled, summoning a fireball and holding it aloft in her left palm.

The shimmer squeaked with fright and started to run away at top speed.

As it fled in the direction of the city's skyscrapers, Toriel couldn't help but feel uneasy, even as David began to inform her of the city's major landmarks while they walked.

If the monsters of the Surface were allowed to walk amongst the humans in broad daylight, then did this mean that these monsters had a say in the affairs of humanity?

And if so, just how much authority did they possess?


	3. There's Always A Bigger Fish In Riverview City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys meet some nice humans.

Three young adults walked along the quiet paths of Riverview City.

The first was Papyrus, a tall skeleton monster with a comical outfit and a genuine desire to make some new friends among the human population. He had also declared himself to be the new ambassador between humans and monsters when Frisk had quickly turned Asgore's offer down. Now, Papyrus was eager to begin his new duties… as soon as he could find a few humans to befriend.

The second was Undyne, the former Captain of King Asgore Dreemurr's Royal Guard. Not too long ago, Asgore had gently pulled her aside and gently explained that since the people of the Kingdom of Monsters would not be going to war with humanity, there was no longer a need for a Royal Guard at all, and the organization had been hastily disbanded with a minimal amount of fuss from the fish woman. At least, that what Undyne kept telling herself as she chatted with her new girlfriend about the amazing landscape with the tall skyscrapers and the beautiful fields of grass. But deep down, Undyne was actually quite perturbed, to say the least. Undyne grown up with amazing war stories about legendary monsters, stories narrated by Gerson, who personally fought in the ancient war between the noble monsters and the vile humans. The King himself personally took Undyne under his wing and taught her how to fight with her signature weapon of choice, a collection of energy spears. And then, Undyne learned about all of the amazing people in Alphys's human history books, from the fiery passion of Son Goku, to the unwavering determination of Simon the Digger, to the heroic resolve of Izuku Midoriya, and countless other heroes in the amazing medium of anime, which Undyne now knew was more than a cartoon, because Frisk had told her so. And while Undyne was still displeased with the loss of her job, she had decided to take solace in fact that gigantic swords, humongous robots and magical princesses were all real, and she wanted to meet each and every one of them… and search for a new job, as well.

The third was Alphys, a self-proclaimed weeaboo who was now at a loss at what to do with her life. Alphys chose the career of a scientist at a young age because she wanted to do something meaningful with her intelligence, and yet everything in her life slowly went straight to hell after the loss of her predecessor, the old skeleton physicist who fell into his accursed creation along with the entire research and development team of the Royal Science Division. When the dust had settled, the only ones left were Alphys, her skeleton friend, and her friend's younger brother. Eventually, the two skeletons left as well, leaving her and her alone to chase after the elusive goal of breaking the Barrier without relying on the power of the human souls. The rest was history, from the disaster with the Amalgamates, to meeting the fishy love of her life, to orchestrating a grand adventure for Frisk, to revealing one of her darkest secrets, to chasing after Undyne in hopes of saving both Asgore and Frisk… only to wake up with a freshly broken Barrier and some slight memory loss. Frisk had given the monsters their freedom… and Alphys hadn't lifted a single claw to help.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU THINK, DOCTOR ALPHYS?" said Papyrus.

"Huh?" Alphys looked up, having become lost in her own thoughts.

"I BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD TRY TO MAKE A PLEASANT FIRST IMPRESSION FOR THE HUMANS, SO THAT THEY ARE MORE WILLING TO ACCEPT US INTO THEIR CITY."

"Uh… Okay?" Alphys agreed, unsure of what else to say.

The monsters have just left the familiar confines of the Underground for the unknowns of the city, after all. It was true that was no way of telling how the humans of the Surface would react to the sudden appearance of monsters in their society, but where else could the monsters go?

Undyne grunted.

Papyrus and Alphys turned to Undyne, who struggled to articulate her thoughts.

"I… it's just… I don't know…" Undyne stumbled over her words. "I'm not sure how to feel about being in a city full of humans. I mean, what if they all try to kill us because they're racist or prejudiced or bigoted or some other stupid thing!?"

The other two monsters shared a look of discomfort, unsure of what to do about Undyne's uncharacteristic reluctance.

Papyrus opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by the voice of a stranger.

"Hey there!" came a male voice.

"Welcome to Riverview City." came a female voice.

Turning around, the three monsters felt slightly uncomfortable upon realizing that they were now face to face with two humans, a young man with bright eyes, and a young woman who looked bored out of her mind.

"I haven't seen you guys around here before!" the man asked, smiling widely. "Are you tourists-"

The next thing that Alphys and Papyrus knew, Undyne had lifted the human by his shirt and was glaring at him with her eye.

"If you think that you humans can just waltz up and… wait. What?" Undyne paused, having ignored what the human had said.

"I said that I haven't seen you guys around here before! Are you tourists?" the man replied, still smiling.

"Welcome to Riverview City." said the woman.

Undyne craned her head to look over at Papyrus and Alphys, who were just as confused as she was.

As Undyne gingerly set the man back on the dirt, Papyrus decided to answer the human's question.

"AHEM… GREETINGS, HUMAN! I… AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, THE NEWLY MINTED AMBASSADOR BETWEEN HUMANS AND MONSTERS! AND TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION… YES! …IN A MATTER OF SPEAKING. MY FRIENDS AND I HAVE DECIDED TO MOVE INTO YOUR CITY, BECAUSE WE WOULD LIKE TO STAY HERE AND ENJOY THE WONDERFUL SCENERY." Papyrus walked up to the human and extended his hand.

Undyne and Alphys held their breaths.

"It's very nice to meet you, The Great Papyrus." The man replied, grabbing Papyrus's hand with his own two hands and shaking it with enthusiasm. "We're always glad to have more people experience the beauty of Riverview City. Isn't that right?" The man turned to his female companion.

"Welcome to Riverview City." said the woman.

"Hold it… there's something fishy about this." Undyne muttered, before she and Papyrus cringed upon realizing that Undyne had just made a bad pun.

Thankfully, Papyrus's brother was nowhere to be seen, so Undyne took a deep breath and continued.

"…Why are the two of you so gosh-darned… nice!? I thought that you humans hated monsters!" Undyne growled.

The man shared a bemused glance with the woman, who merely shrugged.

"Hmm…" the man hummed.

"Are you going to say that humans aren't racist or some other crap like that!?" Undyne hissed.

"Oh, no! Certainly not! We humans are perfectly aware of how awful we can be. We do have an alarming tendency to be prejudiced, bigoted, racist, homophobic, transphobic, anti-semitic, xenophobic, fatphobic, autophobic, barophobic, catagelophobic, dendrophobic, emetophobic, glossophobic, zoophobic, hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobic-

"Stop stop stop! I get the picture!" Undyne groaned in frustration. "I don't even know what most of those words even mean! Are you just trying to confuse me or something!?"

"Not at all! Here in Riverview City, we strive to spread tidbits of knowledge to the public that may or not be common knowledge in order to combat the evils of ignorance and intolerance. Our goal is to help our city become a place of tolerance, acceptance and refuge." The man sincerely replied.

"Welcome to Riverview City." said the woman.

"Okay, what's her problem, anyways?" Undyne commented. "She keeps saying the same thing over and over, like a broken record. It's kind of creepy, to be honest."

"Oh, that's just her way of welcoming new visitors to Riverview City. She's not the talkative sort." The man waved her concerns away.

The woman opened her mouth to repeat herself… but decided not to when Undyne glared at her.

"Now, to answer The Great Papyrus's question… would you like a free travel brochure of all the local historic landmarks?" said the man.

"U-Um… I have a question." Alphys nervously spoke up.

"Yes, what is it, miss…" the man slowed down, as Alphys hadn't given her name yet.

"I-I'm Doctor Alphys… and I was wondering… why are you referring to Papyrus that way? We're used to hearing Papyrus call himself that… but…"

"Oh! That's because we humans of the Riverview City welcoming committee always strive to do our best to accommodate new visitors, and I don't mind calling people by their titles. It's kind of like 'A Pimp Named Slickback'. I assumed you're supposed to say the whole thing." The man answered without a hint of irony.

"…Is that a thing? I've never heard that name in Alphys's human history books." Undyne commented, causing Alphys glance at her in bewilderment.

Hadn't she already told Undyne that anime wasn't real!?

"Human… history… books?" The man inquired, confused as to what Undyne was talking about.

"You know? Dragon Ball Z? Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann? Boku no Hero Academia? Those sorts of history books!"

Alphys gasped, not wanting her girlfriend to see her as a fraud and a dirty liar.

"…Oh? Oh! Those history books! My mistake!" The man replied, seemingly playing along with Undyne's delusions, which made Alphys feel both relived and nervous.

"Huh. Alright, but there's still something that feels odd about this." Undyne admitted.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong? If so, I sincerely apologize-"

"N-No! You didn't do anything wrong!" Alphys interrupted. "It's just that…"

"WHAT IS IT, DOCTOR ALPHYS?" Papyrus asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

Alphys clammed up at this.

You see, while Alphys had introduced Undyne to the wonderful world of manga while telling her that the medium was known as human history, Alphys had been reading through actual human history books from the dump in her spare time.

And by reading those books… well… let's just say that she was a bit… confused by the warm reception.

"I-It's… I… I'm glad that you two aren't trying to hurt us or anything… but… why are you being so nice to us?" Alphys asked, afraid of what she might hear.

The human man and the lizard woman shared a brief look, and for one impossibly long moment, Alphys could see many different things in the man's eyes.

Fear. Resentment. Pain. Loneliness… and Despair.

The man vigorously shook his head, and the moment passed.

"Now, now… I know that we humans have quite the bad reputation due to our horrendous history." said the man. "But I assure you, all of that nasty business is a thing of the past, and it's all thanks to the benevolence of our patron, Kenneth-"

Suddenly, a truck full of humans came down the road.

The man quickly pushed Alphys to the ground… and was promptly caught in a barrage of gunfire.

From her position, Alphys was transfixed with horror as time seemingly came to a halt.

The human's face was contorted with shock and agony… and yet, Alphys could have sworn that she could sense the tiny sliver of one last emotion.

Relief.

The human's bloodied corpse fell on top of Alphys.

The shock was too much for the hapless woman's soul, and she blacked out.

* * *

Papyrus had no idea how such a simple encounter with humans could have gone so horribly wrong.

One moment, Papyrus, his friend, and his brother's old science partner had been chatting with some rather nice humans.

And the next, Papyrus and Undyne were surrounded by a dozen humans, all of which were carrying firearms.

Alphys had blacked out from terror because one of the nice humans had fallen on top of her. Papyrus would have moved to try to get the human to wake up, but he was fairly sure that that would be a bad idea at the moment.

Undyne stood paralyzed by indecision, torn between her desire to beat all the bad humans and her sense of self-preservation.

The other nice human had been shot as well, and she was lying face up, still repeating the same phrase over and over, even while bleeding to death.

"Welcome… to… Riverview… City…"

The leader of the not-so-nice humans, a portly, pale-skinned human who Papyrus assumed was a woman, walked over to the human on the ground.

"Welcome… to… Riverview-"

"She's too far gone. Just like the rest of our wayward kin." The human woman shook her head, and promptly put a bullet through the injured human's skull.

Papyrus recoiled from this awful act.

The skeleton could barely comprehend what was happening.

Despite the fears of his friends and family, Papyrus had managed to meet some nice humans! Everything was perfect! Why would humans want to shoot other humans!? Surely no sane person would ever want to hurt someone of the same species as them… right?

"Now, what do we do with you and the rest of the inhuman freaks like you…" the woman muttered, turning to Undyne and Papyrus.

Papyrus came to the conclusion that he was simply having a horrible nightmare. And so, he willed himself to wake up in his safe, comfortable car bed back in the Underground.

"Oh! Oh! I know! We should shoot these freaks in the head!" said one of the humans.

The other ten humans cackled at this.

"Ugh. We can't. You know our orders…" said the woman.

"Don't remind me... 'A quick death is too good for those selfish monsters. We should imprison them to make an example of those inhuman freaks and the race traitors who became monster-fuckers,' and blah blah blah! But why is the General so obsessed with capturing these ugly bastards instead of killing them?"

"Beats me." said the fat woman. "Besides, didn't you ask that the last time we killed a family of disgusting fish-freaks?"

Undyne's finger twitched as she tried to subtly call upon her energy spears.

"I wouldn't... unless you're one of those freaks with bulletproof skin." said the woman, as she and the other humans all pointed their rifles at Papyrus's closest friend.

Undyne seethed with rage… but despite the temptation, she couldn't quite bring herself to play chicken with a human who was holding an automatic rifle. Not with Alphys and Papyrus in the line of fire, anyways.

"That's what I thought, fish-freak." said the woman, spitting on Undyne's face.

Papyrus cringed at this.

The skeleton had known the fish woman for quite a while, and he was privy to all of her good traits, such as her stubborn bravery, her phyiscal prowess, and her infectious enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, there was one pesky little trait of hers that Papyrus had spent their entire friendship trying to ignore.

Her pride.

The pride of a woman-child who truly believed that the world revolved around her, and that the world would conspire to provide her with appropriately difficult challenges to prove herself, like the dozens of shonen heroes who had come before her.

Deep down, Papyrus knew what would happen next.

Undyne would take offense to this human's saliva and summon an enormous barrage of spears in an attempt to kill the racist villains who stood before her.

And this attempt would be met with gunfire… which is quite lethal to a monster of Undyne's species.

Papyrus willed himself to wake up from his horrific nightmare… but nothing happened.

"SANS…"

"Hmm? Did the ugly skeleton say something?" said the human woman.

"SANS… PLEASE…"

After all, if Papyrus and Undyne were incapable of dealing with these humans, surely Sans could do so instead?

Papyrus's brother was one of the most dangerous monsters in the Underground after all.

"HELP US…" Papyrus prayed.

But nobody came.

"Right. Let's get these hideous monsters tied up-"

The human woman choked.

Looking up, Papyrus was horrified to see that a sharp spear that had impaled the human's stomach, causing a trickle of foul-smelling blood to come out.

But it wasn't one of Undyne's spears, because she hadn't summoned any yet.

It was a spear of ice.

The next thing the Papyrus knew, the human cried out in pain because a newcomer had arrived on the scene, having tightly grasped the ice spear with a large, gnarled hand in the time it took for Papyrus to blink.

The newcomer was a large figure. They were draped in a tattered, ethereal blue cloak.

In the place of a head, there was a white, menacing deer skull with white antlers, and silvery hair flowing from the back of skull's base.

And they had eerie, glowing blue lights in place of eyes, lights embedded within the depths of the skull's eye sockets.

In short, the newcomer was a monster… but they were definitely not Sans.

The monster opened their large maw, revealing a sizable amount of sharp, pointy teeth.

They promptly bit down on the fat woman's head, causing a loud snap.

Slowly, the monster lifted their head upwards, tearing the woman's head off her shoulders with a squelch, causing blood to spurt everywhere.

And then, the monster swallowed, before turning to the transfixed skeleton.

"…First dead human?" the monster inquired with a peculiar voice, one with a deep distortion in tone that could be heard echoing with each word.

Papyrus tried to respond, but he still felt paralyzed.

"It's… it's the Ice Queen…" a human whispered, as he and his fellow humans were shaking in their boots.

"I'll handle the rest of these piglets." said the monster. "As a favor from a wendigo to a skeleton."

The wendigo grinned, and Papyrus couldn't help but shudder at the human blood on the undead monster's bony muzzle.

"The name's Lucia, by the way. It's nice seeing a fellow undead around here."

* * *

Undyne stood silent in a mixture of horror and indignation as the wendigo began to tear their way through the evil humans with a mixture of overwhelming speed and seemingly bulletproof skin.

With every blink of Undyne's eye, another bloody human corpse would fall to the dirt, either due to claw wounds, impalement by an ice spear, and even by having their limbs bitten off and eaten by a carnivorous monster.

The fish woman had been powerless to protect herself and her friends from the humans, and yet here this stranger was, stealing Undyne's glory!

Undyne finally worked up the nerve to summon a volley of spears, only to feel inadequate upon realizing that there was only one human left… a rather fat and ugly human male, complete with pasty white skin.

"Tell you what, I'm feeling generous, little piglet. I'll give you ten seconds before I rip your head from your body. With my teeth." said the wendigo.

The fat human promptly dropped his gun and started running away.

The sight was so pathetic that Undyne couldn't stop her spears from dissipating on their own.

Lucia raised her spear and sized up the angle, before settling on a ninety-degree angle, even as the fat human huffed and wheezed.

"One… two…" Lucia grunted, before throwing her spear with a loud whump. "…ten."

The spear passed through the hapless human's neck with a squish, and his body collapsed to the ground.

Walking over to the freshly killed human, Lucia did what she had promised to do with the human's delicious flesh… and then she turned her attention to the newly exposed human soul, a floating, three-dimensional green heart.

Lucia squeezed the soul with the palms of her hands, and the soul became enveloped in a transparent, pale blue orb of energy.

Tucking the soul away in her inventory, Lucia turned around to observe the new visitors in the city she called home.

The fat, unconscious lizard was still stuck under a human corpse, one of the personal lackeys of her friend, a touchy old werewolf that she liked to refer to as Mister Furball.

The angry fish woman was torn between screeching her head off and backing away. She would certainly pick the latter if she knew what was best for her personal health.

And the male skeleton… simply didn't know how to react after his ordeal. He just stood there, completely dazed.

"So… first day in Riverview City, huh?" Lucia grunted. "In case you didn't get the memo… welcome to the monster haven where everyone is a sarcastic, violent jackass. We hope you feel comfortable staying with us."

Finishing with a quick bow for dramatic effect, Lucia set about retrieving the rest of the human souls.

And so, another ordinary afternoon in Riverview City came… and went.


	4. The Saddest Boss Monster Ever… Of All Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgore wakes up in a strange house that he's never been to before.

The first thing that Asgore noticed was the fresh scent of Golden Flower tea.

Asgore tried to shuffle around, only to realize that he was sprawled on a small couch that could barely hold his girth, and his eyes were closed.

When Asgore opened his eyes, he found that he was within a strange house that he had never been to before.

Looking around, he noticed that a warm cup of tea was lying on a coffee table, just out of reach.

Pushing himself up, Asgore gingerly picked up the cup, noting that the design was meant to accommodate larger monsters such as himself.

Asgore moved to sip the tea, only to stop himself.

He began to hesitate, because he had no idea how he had wound up in such a strange location, and he was fairly certain that it would be rude to drink another person's tea.

But the tea smelled positively heavenly! Surely it had been left here for him, right?

No! A cowardly fool such as Asgore could not possibly deserve such a wonderful cup of tea!

And yet-

"Ahem. Are you feeling-" came a female voice from behind.

Asgore was startled by the interruption, and he dropped the cup of tea, causing liquid to spill on the carpet.

"Oh, Lord, not again!" the voice hissed, as a human woman with brown hair swept past him and started pawing at the wet carpet with some paper towels and cleaning solution.

As the strange woman fussed over the carpet stain, Asgore began to feel quite awful.

He had screwed up an incredibly simple task once again.

It was no wonder why his ex-wife blamed him for everything that had happened between the two of them.

It was no less than what he deserved.

* * *

A few minutes after cleaning up the second carpet stain of the day, Sarah Amherst took a moment to take in her guest's appearance as she placed a new cup of tea on the coffee table.

The man in front of her was a rather large Boss Monster.

He had the paws, the clawed hands, the large muzzle, and the impressively large horns of a large male caprine with white fur.

More specifically, he had the features of a male, caprine-like monster. After all, ordinary goats have hooves instead of paws, they're not known for having sharp fangs or eating meat, and they don't have manes either, especially not large, golden manes like Asgore's.

It's been theorized that Boss Monsters are actually a unique hybrid of goats and lions. It would explain the odd mismatch of animal features and eating preferences…but that is neither here nor there.

What truly mattered about Asgore's appearance was his face, as he had a droop to his muzzle and his eyes were red, puffy and perpetually watery, as if begging for forgiveness from any person in the general vicinity… such as a strange woman living by herself with only her young child for company.

"So… do you mind if we talk about-" Sarah began.

Asgore promptly broke into tears, burying his head in his hands and sobbing uncontrollably for the whole world to hear.

Sarah sighed once more.

* * *

As Asgore had no intention of uncurling himself from the lump he had elected to curl up into, Sarah had trouble deciding what do with him.

When Sarah had first heard of this particular monster king, she had notions of talking with a large, stern, weathered, war veteran who was accustomed to killing others for various reasons, akin to the other influential monsters she had spoken with in the past.

And when she had talked with Toriel and Sans, she had begun to wonder if Asgore was considered to be a coward and a pushover, judging by how freely the two monsters would discuss the habits and the actions of the king himself.

Looking down at Asgore's large form, Sarah was fairly certain that the latter impression was the correct one.

When she had found Asgore curled up on her front doorstep, Sarah had decided to let him sleep on her couch, hoping to get some answers about her child's harrowing journey in the Underground from the man himself one he woke up.

Ever since the 21st Century had come and gone, scientists had made huge strides in storage technology, creating pocket inventories to allow people to digitize small items for personal convenience. And with some tinkering, it is possible to switch out entire sets of clothing in the blink of an eye, a godsend for shapeshifters and workers in the early morning.

Sarah was perfectly aware that armor does not make for comfortable sleepwear, so she decided to exchange Asgore's armor and crown for a large, pink, floral shirt and a set of dark blue pants, a silly birthday present that Lucia had given to Kenneth as part of an elaborate joke. The irritable werewolf had refused to wear them, so Sarah had brushed off the bickering of her two closest friends and stored the garish clothes aside until they were useful.

In the end, Sarah wasn't sure what to make of the sleeping Boss Monster. He was extremely jittery, and instant she had tried to interrogate him, he immediately broke down and cried.

This isn't the sort of behavior that most people expect from a ruler of monsterkind, after all.

Shaking her head, Sarah decided to do some cooking to clear her head, as it was getting close to dinnertime, anyways.

* * *

Asgore suddenly startled awake with a pounding headache and a dry mouth.

Seeing a large glass of water, Asgore picked it up and drank the moderate amount of liquid in one gulp.

Sniffing the air, Asgore noticed the pleasant scent of cooking oil wafting from the adjacent room, which Asgore assumed was the kitchen.

Sitting up, Asgore noticed that he was wearing a rather garish pink shirt that didn't belong to him.

Attempting to squash his feelings of embarrassment, Asgore turned around to see the backside of the strange woman who had brought him into her home.

The human had shoulder-length brown hair, and she was wearing a brown sweater, a dark blue apron over the sweater, and a comfortable-looking pair of grey sweatpants.

As the human vigorously shook the ingredients in the large wok on the kitchen stovetop, Asgore felt strangely at ease.

Some rice and broccoli crowns flew up into the air, along with some beef strips, some scrambled eggs, some diced carrots, and some edamame.

Entranced, Asgore watched as the ingredients flew up into an ark and fell back into the wok.

After pushing the ingredients around with a spatula in her right hand, the woman grabbed a few pinches of salt and pepper, scattering them over the fried rice.

The woman sighed, nodded to herself, and turned off the stovetop and the overhead lights.

Washing her hands and pulling the apron over her head, the human called out in the direction of the stairs.

"Sweetie! Dinner's ready!"

Hearing no response, the human woman walked out of the kitchen and walked upstairs, deliberately paying Asgore no heed.

Asgore sat quietly for a moment, unsure of what to do with himself.

A few moments later, the woman came down the stairs.

"Sweetie, haven't I told you not to play your music so loudly with the earbuds in? Especially when it's time to eat?" said the woman.

"Mom, I like listening to music! It helps me relax, and I wasn't playing it that loudly-"

Upon coming down the stairs, Frisk suddenly came to a screeching halt upon seeing Asgore.

"What… what the heck is he doing here!?" Frisk suddenly hissed, recoiling back with anger and fear.

"I… found him on our doorstep and I figured I'd talk to him… sweetie, wait!" the woman suddenly growled, roughly grabbing Frisk's right arm.

In the child's hand… was a small garden knife, a familiar implement that came from Asgore's garden in New Home.

"Sweetie… give me… the knife." said the woman, firmly holding her child's arm.

Frisk looked between their mother, who met their glare with a firm gaze, and Asgore, who suddenly felt like prostrating himself and begging for forgiveness.

Frisk slowly loosened their tight grip, and the woman calmly put the gardening knife into her own inventory.

After that, the small child took a deep breath… and calmly went back upstairs to their room, shutting it behind them with a quiet thunk.

Sighing once more, the woman turned back to Asgore to give him a look of disgust, silently warning him that there would be consequences if he burst into tears again.

Asgore open his mouth to speak, but it slowly shut itself when he realized that he had no idea what to say.

* * *

As Asgore gingery shifted around on the slightly squashed couch, Sarah couldn't help but sigh.

When she learned of all the horrible things that had happened to her child when her back was turned, she began to come up with dozens of angry rants to throw at the king of the Underground monsters.

But upon seeing the perpetual droop in Asgore's expression and the sheer amount of remorse in his watery eyes, most of her tirades simply went limp.

Asgore Dreemurr is a cowardly fool, a pathetic ditherer, an overly emotional man, and a lazy ruler… but he had already acknowledged all of these negative traits long ago, to his estranged wife and to his subjects.

How could she possibly say anything to Asgore that the old monster hadn't already acknowledged about himself?

Sarah calmly set her dining room table with chopsticks and napkins, before scooping two sizable portions of fried rice into wide bowls and place them at opposite ends of the table as well.

Scooping up a third portion of fried rice and setting aside the rest for later, Sarah grabbed a third pair of chopsticks and one napkin before going upstairs.

Asgore elected to remain where he was.

* * *

Upon walking back downstairs to see that Asgore hadn't budged an inch from his position on her favorite couch, Sarah opened her mouth to chew Asgore out… and stopped when Asgore anticipated this and allowed a few tears to fall from his reddened eyes.

"Is crying your only solution for all of your problems?" she asked.

Asgore hiccupped, lost in a mixture of fear and self-loathing.

Rolling her eyes, Sarah took a seat at the table, confirming to herself that she had properly set up the enlarged table and seats (a small perk of having a sizeable base of magical knowledge), and she nodded for Asgore to come over and sit down.

Asgore blinked.

Sarah nodded between Asgore and the seat, more vigorously, this time.

Asgore blinked again.

"The food's getting cold. Are you hungry are not?" Sarah growled.

Asgore promptly walked to the other end of the table and sat down.

As woman began to dig into the fried rice on her plate, Asgore felt a pang of familiarity.

It was subtle… but this woman's demeanor had reminded him of his ex-wife's for a moment…

Asgore shook his head and attempted to eat, before realizing that he had never used chopsticks before.

Looking up, Sarah stood up and went to the kitchen to grab a fork and a spoon for the Boss Monster with a rather dense mind.


	5. Papyrus Narrowly Avoids Death By Snu-Snu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An idealist and a cynic chat for a bit. In most stories, we're supposed to agree with the idealist, but this time, the cynic has a few good points to make.

Lucia Heales bit down a severed human arm, her sharp teeth piercing the skin.

As the blood began to pool in her mouth, she moaned in delight, allowing herself to enjoy the sweet taste.

Ripping a bite of flesh with a twist of her jaw, she slowly chewed and swallowed, breathing out a sigh of contentment.

"Hey-"

Lucia craned her head around to glance at Undyne, who immediately shut her mouth.

Undyne fidgeted under Lucia's gaze, unsure of how the hungry wendigo would react.

After a few moments, Lucia shrugged, swallowed the rest of the arm, and stood up, looming over her fellow monsters while licking her bloodstained fingers.

"Ah, that hit the spot. So, how are you guys doing on this fine afternoon?" Lucia asked.

Upon receiving no response, the wendigo took a moment to observe the three young monsters she had terrified not too long ago.

The skeleton monster had been fidgeting by himself ever since she had killed all those dumb humans.

The lizard monster was rocking back and forth in a ball on the concrete road.

And the fish monster was currently eying her warily, her expression filled with a mixture of suspicious and nausea.

"I… what exactly is your deal, lady!?" said Undyne.

"Whatever do you mean, my fellow carnivore?" said Lucia.

"Huh? Carnivore? What's that supposed to mean? I… you know what, this is so stupid! You forced us to sit here and watch you eat all those humans! It was disgusting!" Undyne complained.

"Hey, I asked if you wanted some human meat, but you guys turned me down." Lucia replied, tilting her head.

Undyne blinked for a few moments.

"What? … Of COURSE we turned you down! We don't EAT humans! We're not VILLAINS!" Undyne shouted.

"How does eating humans make me a villain?" Lucia blinked.

"I…because…" Undyne stopped, realizing that she had never heard that kind of question before. "Because… only villains go around killing people just for the heck of it. HAH!" Undyne smirked, confident in her answer.

"Hmmmm… fair point… but… wouldn't that make the humans… the heroes?" Lucia questioned.

"…WHAT." said Undyne.

"I mean, the way you said it, you sound like a believer in the typical heroes vs villains conflict, you know? The silly kind of story that's overused in literally every shonen anime ever."

"And what's wrong with anime?" Undyne retorted.

"It's fictional. It's not real. Sure, it's fun to watch, but real-world conflicts don't work the way that they do in silly cartoons."

"Psssssh! Shows what you know! OF COURSE anime is real!" Undyne guffawed, drawing the other woman's attention.

"Who told you that?"

"Alphys told me!" Undyne nodded to the catatonic lizard woman. "And Frisk said that anime was real, so that means I'm DOUBLY RIGHT! Take that!"

"Frisk?" Lucia asked, pausing for a moment.

"Oh, Frisk's my new human friend!" said Undyne. "They're a wimpy loser with a big heart, just like Asgore!"

Lucia blinked.

"I have no idea who that is." the wendigo admitted.

"Who, Frisk? They're this really small-"

"No, the other one." Lucia interrupted.

Undyne went silent at this… and then she felt annoyed.

"What the heck!? You don't know who Asgore is!? Have you been living under a rock or something!?" Undyne exclaimed, pointing her finger at the other woman.

"Says the fish woman who's spent her whole life living under Mount Ebott."

Undyne went silent at that.

"… Are you alright-"

"Grrrrr… NGAHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

"AHEM… I… THE GREAT PAPYRUS… WOULD LIKE TO HUMBLY REQUEST-"

"Hm?"

Papyrus tried to think of what to say.

But at the moment, he was currently preoccupied with the fact that Undyne was currently incased in a solid block of ice, courtesy of this strange and rather intimidating monster.

"…WAS IT TRULY NECESSARY TO DO THAT TO MY FRIEND?"

"Nope." Lucia bluntly replied.

"…THEN WHY-"

"Because she was being annoying, and I felt like it."

Lucia noticed that Papyrus had a rather strained expression.

"What, don't you go around beating up all the annoying people who insist on calling you a moron even if they honestly should know better?"

"NO… I DO NOT."

"Ehh. To each, their own." Lucia nodded, before scratching her chin in contemplation. "So, what do you guys want to do? It's a bit late, but there are plenty of places in this city where you can grab a bite to eat."

Papyrus fidgeted again.

"What's the matter?" Lucia asked, stretching her arms above her skull.

"I… I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU WEREN'T SO… DISMISSIVE… OF MY FRIENDS." said Papyrus, squaring his bony shoulders.

"What make you say that?" Lucia blinked.

Papyrus looked at Undyne, who was still frozen solid… and then he looked at Alphys, who was still catatonic.

Upon realizing what Papyrus was getting out, Lucia rolled her eyes.

"Fiiiiiiiiiinnnne…" she grumbled, before pulling out a small bucket from her inventory, casting a minor spell to fill it with water, and then dumping the icy-cold liquid on Alphys's face, causing her to shriek and then burst into tears.

Papyrus marched up to the wendigo in order to protest her rude actions.

"AHEM! … I MUST FIRMLY REQUEST… THAT… YOU…" Papyrus trailed off upon realizing that the larger monster had lowered her face to his, leaving only a few inches of space between them.

"PLEASE… STOP… ACTING… IN THE MANNER… THAT YOU… ARE… CHOOSING… TO… ACT?" Papyrus hesitantly spoke, want to criticize the wendigo's actions in a polite yet firm matter, but not wanting to risk getting his skull ripped from his body.

"… You're a very polite person, aren't you, Papyrus?" said Lucia.

"I… YES, I… AM?"

After searching for something in Papyrus's gaze, Lucia huffed and took a few steps backward.

"That's a rare quality…. it'd be a real shame if you lost it." said the wendigo, looking off to the side in contemplation.

Papyrus opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't find the right words to articulate how he was currently feeling.

And then, the moment passed.

"Welp, I'm still kinda hungry. Let's go grab some dinner! Come on! I know this nice vampire nightclub that has all the food you can eat!" said Lucia, picking up the frozen Undyne with her right arm, picking up the sputtering Alphys in her left arm, and then setting off in a random direction, forcing Papyrus to follow at a respectable distance.

The young skeleton felt a chill down his spine, as if feeling the phantom pain of a horizontal slash across his neck…

* * *

"Put me down! Put me down! Putmedownputmedownputmedown-"

"Are you always this shrill, lizard-face!?"

As Papyrus slowly walked along the city road, he couldn't help but feel concerned about the situation that he and his friends were in.

Papyrus had never imagined that a fellow monster could resort to violence against humans in such a blasé manner… and now? He had no idea what this monster, Lucia, had in store for the three of them.

"So, what's your backstory?" said the wendigo.

"EHHH?"

The wendigo stopped and turned around, with Papyrus's friends tucked under her long arms.

"We all come from somewhere. Therefore, everybody's got a backstory of where they came from and what they want to do with their life." Lucia calmly explained.

"OH! WELL… IN THAT CASE…" Papyrus cleared his throat. "I… AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD! NYEH HEH… HEH."

Undyne tried to say something, but she was still frozen solid.

"Really now? You're saying you're a fighter? You don't seem like the type to use violence when necessary. You seem like the type of person who always tries to solve his problems by hugging it out." said Lucia.

Papyrus slightly deflated at this. True, he wasn't the sort of person who enjoyed using force to solve problems, but that was simply because he believed that non-violent solutions could easily be used to make the world a better place! Why wouldn't people want to peacefully resolve their issues in a calm matter?

"… YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE THAT THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT." Papyrus muttered.

Lucia stopped and turned around to quietly look at Papyrus, reluctant passengers in tow.

"IT'S… IT'S JUST THAT I… I TRULY BELIEVE THAT ANYONE CAN BE A GOOD PERSON… IF THEY TRY."

"What about the people who only try once or twice before they shrug and choose not to give a shit anymore?" Lucia asked. "And what about the people who never cared enough to try in the first place? Are you seriously telling me that you've never met some douchebag who just didn't give a shit about anything or anyone?"

"OF COURSE NOT! I…" Papyrus paused. "I'VE NEVER KNOWN ANYONE WHO WOULD CHOOSE TO ACT… LIKE…"

But despite shaking his head in disbelief, the young skeleton couldn't stop his thoughts from drifting to someone he personally knew, a disillusioned man who would walk around with a perpetual smile just avoid facing any of his personal problems…

"…NO. I'VE NEVER MET ANYONE LIKE THAT. WHAT MAKES YOU BELIEVE THAT? IT'S TRUE THE UNDERGROUND WASN'T PERFECT. WE WERE TRAPPED BECAUSE OF THE ACTIONS OF THE ANCIENT HUMAN SAGES AND EVERYONE ALWAYS COMPLAINED ABOUT THE LACK OF SPACE, BUT AT LEAST EVERYONE WAS ALWAYS NICE TO EACH OTHER!"

Lucia went silent for a moment.

"UHHH… MISTER LUCIA-"

"I told you I was a woman, dumbass." Lucia cut him off.

"RIGHT... MY APOLOGIES." Papyrus hung his head in reluctance.

"…You really want to see the best in everyone you meet, don't you." Lucia muttered.

The skeleton slowly nodded.

"…Papyrus, I honestly don't believe in crap like that. Ever since I gained sapience all the way back in the ancient days, I've had plenty of time to observe how humans and monsters tend to interact with each other."

"… AND?"

"And those encounters rarely ended well. In fact, they still don't end well, not even in this day and age. You saw what those racist humans did before I killed them, remember?"

Papyrus struggled to come up with a response to that.

"The only thing that's changed is the amount of power that each side has. After all, there's not much a lowly monster can do when a human sage has the power to kill a dozen monsters just by looking at them funny. But that was in the past, before the humans lost the gift of magic."

"… AND NOW?"

"And now, there's not much that a competent monster has to fear from the human race. Humans aren't that tough anymore. They don't have magical reserves like we do. They can't even use cantrips, of all things."

"BUT WHY DID THOSE HUMANS ACT SO…"

"Horribly? That's because you have two major categories of humans and not just one. The first category is the unending horde of stereotypical, one-dimensional, racist assholes who do nothing but act racist towards innocent monsters just for the heck of it. That's why humans have such a bad reputation in all of the various monster societies."

"…W-WELL! I'M CERTAINLY GLAD THAT MY SOCIETY NEVER HAD VIEWS SUCH AS THAT THOSE-"

"Dude, you're not fooling anyone. From a glance, I can tell that you're from a place where all of your friends and neighbors hated humans. Just look at your fishy acquaintance."

Undyne grumbled within her ice block while glaring with her good eye, still struggling to break free and give the wendigo a piece of her mind.

"I… BUT… THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A VERY HAPPY WAY TO LIVE. ALWAYS BEING CYNICAL AND PARANOID OF EVERYONE. I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO LIVE LIKE THAT. I THINK THAT SUCH AN INDIVIDUAL… WOULD BE A VERY SAD AND LONELY PERSON ON THE INSIDE."

Lucia took a deep breath, and her hands clenched into fists.

Papyrus took an involuntary step backwards, sensing that he might have crossed some sort of line.

But then, Lucia relaxed… and gave the skeleton a big smile.

"You think you've learned everything there is to know about the Surface already? Well, as long as you realize that you're practically begging for the universe to shit on your silly dreams just to prove you wrong…" Lucia darkly muttered. "Now, let's talk about something that you'll probably find even worse than racist humans."

"WHATEVER DO YOU MEAN, MISS LUCIA?"

"You know how I mentioned that there was a second group of humans?"

Papyrus hesitantly nodded.

"Well, not all humans hate monsters. There are a lot of humans who really love monsters now."

Papyrus sighed in relief as the four monsters finally came to a large building with neon lights.

But when they walked up to the front doors, a gaggle of female humans came out.

When the humans noticed Papyrus, they all gasped.

"In fact, there's a large number of humans who love monsters a bit too much. It's kind of unnerving… especially when you realize how many necrophiliacs live in this city." Lucia laughed.

"OH… MY… GOD! A NEW SKELETON HUSBANDO!" the humans shrieked.

"I CALL DIBS ON HIS SEXY FEMUR!"

"I CALL DIBS ON HIS BONY RIBS!"

"WHO CARES ABOUT DIBS!? I JUST WANT TO SUCK ON HIS BIG, FAT, ECO-COCK!"

Papyrus stared at the crazy humans and the cheerful wendigo in disbelief… because skeletons don't have genitals, and that would be stupid.

And then, he turned around and started to run for his life, pursed by a horde of crazy skeleton fangirls.

"Don't worry! The trick is that you just have to keep running! They're no point in trying to kill them all because there's an infinite number of skeleton-fuckers!" Lucia called out in good humor.

"U-uhhhh… shouldn't we help him?" Alphys shyly spoke up.

"Nah. He'll be fine. The universe probably thinks he's important or something." Lucia grunted, before carrying the other two monsters into the building.


	6. Why Are People So Obsessed With Deconstructing Shit!?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans makes a new acquaintance.

Walking along the dimly lit streets of Riverview City, Sans quietly observed his surroundings.

Within a day, Sans had quickly concluded that the Surface was nothing like he had once imagined.

Ever since he was a young skeleton, Sans had always dreamed of various things.

His earliest memories were of the fascinating facts and theories that his uncle would pose to him.

Doctor W. D. Gaster was a man who always seemed to have an amusing pun or interesting factoid to share, and wherever he went, he always had a bright smile that would put everyone around him at ease.

When Dr. Gaster became the Royal Scientist, he boldly promised that he would find a way to break the Barrier that trapped the monsters beneath Mount Ebott, and everyone had faith in him.

… Including Sans.

* * *

Walking past the entrance of a large skyscraper, Sans pulled out a small notebook and a pen.

Doing some mental calculations, he observed the sliding doors, noting the height, the width, and the material that the doors consisted of.

Recording the information in his notebook, Sans took a deep breath, closed his eyes, walked through the open doors… and emerged from an alleyway on the opposite side of the road.

Nodding in confirmation, Sans made a note of the new shortcut in his notebook before putting it and the pen back into his pocket of his hoodie.

Sans felt the urge to go see where Grillby might be setting up shop in the city, but then he felt a shiver down his bony spine.

Trusting in his natural gift of intuition, Sans turned around and activated a slightly different shortcut, using his magic to emerge from a door that led to the rooftop of the skyscraper.

Looking around, he was surprised to see Toriel, who was facing away from him, clutching the safety railing with an iron grip.

When Sans had last observed Toriel, she had agreed to follow two strange monsters who had asked her to meet the city's mayor.

That had happened several hours ago, so what was she doing on a skyscraper, of all places?

Sans would have spent more time on pondering, but his thoughts were interrupted when Toriel did something shocking.

The old goat woman channeled her magic, causing the railing to melt into a puddle.

She took a step forward, leaving her teetering over the edge of the building.

Stunned, Sans stood transfixed as Toriel vigorously shook her head, before shrieking in horror at her foolish mistake.

Toriel lost her balance, and she began to fall.

Sans raised his hand to channel his gravity magic… but then he stopped.

Sans found himself questioning why he had stopped, because there was no way that he would let a dear friend fall to her death.

Sans then shrugged and turned away, because he was a lazy bum who wouldn't lift a fingerbone to save his baby brother.

Sans turned back around because he was a caring, empathic person who would move heaven and Earth to save his loved ones.

Sans turned away again, because he was a selfish hypocrite who would force a small human child to use their power over time to save all the monsters, personal trauma be damned.

Sans-

"ARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!"

* * *

The next thing that Sans knew, he had collapsed into a heap on the rooftop, and he felt an excruciating migraine coming on.

"It sucks, doesn't it?" came a bitter voice from the side.

Blinking through the pain, Sans raised his head to meet the purple-eyed gaze of a middle-aged man in a suit.

"Not knowing if your story is character-driven or narrative-driven." said the man.

Slowly dragging himself to his feet, Sans noticed that Toriel was curled up into a lump near the door leading into the building, and she was quietly sobbing to herself.

"That's what happens when a person's character is written to be vague… on purpose." the man huffed.

Regaining his bearings, Sans took a moment to observe the strange man.

The man appeared to be in his late forties. He had gray hair and he was wearing a pair of glasses, but his most striking features were the gray wolf ears that were poking up above his head.

A new monster, then.

"vague? character? is that supposed to mean something to me?" Sans questioned.

The werewolf said nothing for a while, opting to turn away and look up at the night sky.

"Do I really have to answer that, Sans?" said the man. "After all, you were the meta guy of your pretentious indie game. You used your meta-knowledge of the Resets as an excuse for your behavior."

Sans took a step back.

"What's with that look?" the man asked. "Surely you didn't think that you were the only person who's ever had your particular form of self-awareness?"

Sans considered this for a second.

"eh? how exactly would some random old guy know anything about the resets?"

"How indeed, Sans. How indeed." the man grunted.

Slightly confused, Sans decided to pry for some information.

"welp, i've gotta say, this city… it's a pretty strange place."

"How so?"

"frisk has a mother, for starters. and… she… seems like a decent lady. if you can ignore her anger issues."

"Oh, really? A whole new city to explore, and you're fixated on the family situation of your human acquaintance, of all things?" the man scoffed. "What about her is so surprising? Perhaps you were expecting a racist woman with an irrational hatred of monsterkind? Or a stereotypical Bible-thumping Christian nutjob who would have done nothing but lock her child in a tiny cupboard and abuse them and complain about being burdened by a freak of nature? Is that what you wanted to see?"

"hey, hey, hey! aren't you putting words into my mouth-"

"You once did the same."

"…eh?"

"You did the same in the Underground, back when you made assumptions about Frisk. You assumed that Frisk was a demon who would kill you, your friends, and your family for the sake of curiosity and boredom."

"and your point is?"

"My point… is that there's quite a bit of hypocrisy in your actions, Sans."

"hey! i have to live with the knowledge that a demonic child could suddenly reset the timeline, dragging us all back into the underground… and none of us would be the wiser… buddy."

Sans decided to perform his usual routine of intimidation, preparing the black eyesockets that once scared the pants off Frisk.

"if you think you can get away with mocking my pain-"

Sans gave the man his best glare, only to come face to face with the barrel of a pistol.

"That's not going to work here, Sans." said the man, meeting the skeleton's empty gaze with a harsh glare of his own.

Seeing that the man's left index finger was on the trigger of the firearm, Sans reluctantly turned his eye lights back on.

"alright… so… what exactly happens now, then?" Sans sighed.

"Now? Nothing needs to happen. The Barrier is gone. You and your fellow monsters have the freedom to wander about and do whatever you want. The real question… is what you plan on doing with your new freedom." said the man, putting the pistol away.

"i don't follow."

"It's one of the biggest questions of life. What do you do when you've done almost everything that you originally set out to accomplish? It's that tiny voice of doubt, the one that makes people look up at the night sky and ask, 'Now what?'"

As the two men proceeded to look up at the starry sky, Sans still had a few more questions.

"this city…it doesn't seem like a very peaceful place, what with that crazy wendigo lady… what was her name again?"

"If you went out of your way to spy on one of the most obnoxious monsters in this city, than you've probably learned her name… and are choosing to waste my time with meaningless questions." said the man.

"heh, you got me. lucia... nice name… but it's an odd one."

"Mm. It means 'light' in Italian, and it's derived from 'lux', the Latin word for light. I suppose it's a strange name for some who acts as horribly as she does. She claimed it for herself, after all."

"heh. so… it's okay for you to spout off meaningless shit, but it's not okay for me to ask meaningless questions?"

"Yes." the man bluntly answered.

"hm. so that's how it is."

Sans rolled his bony shoulders as he looked for some familiar constellations.

"It's a wonderful evening tonight. People are eating supper, the stars are shining brightly, and it's the perfect weather for a midnight stroll. Everyone is content with their lot in life… expect for you, Sans. It's funny how things never really change, even when they're not the same."

"again with the meaningless shit?"

"And again, you're the sort of man who goes on long rants on why the universe is a cruel, meaningless place where nothing can ever matter… and that somehow gives him the right to be lazy and not give a rat's ass about anything or anyone. Pot, met kettle."

Sans grunted in annoyance.

"so, what exactly happened with the old lady, back there?"

"Toriel Dreemurr… is a very prideful woman."

"hey, are you really going to mock a sweet, motherly old lady who go out of her way to care for frisk-"

"She had the opportunity to save her human child from buttercup poisoning, but she somehow failed a critical spot check even though the same exact thing happened to her husband. Does that sound like the behavior of a good mother to you?"

Sans shifted his feet, and the man turned back to glare at him.

"Are you surprised by what I said, or are you just annoyed that I insulted 'Goat Mom', the perfect mother who can do no wrong in the fandom's eyes?"

"i… i…"

Sans was sincerely lost for words. What this man said was horrible, sure. And yet, Sans struggled to come up with an answer.

Did he know about the buttercup poisoning?

Sure, he was a smart skeleton. It wasn't a stretch to think that he might have pieced together the clues on how Chara Dreemurr could have suddenly perished from a mysterious illness.

And yet, why would Sans bother with doing research into such a thing? He had already admitted to being lazy and not caring about the world around him.

Caught between these two explanations, Sans felt another headache.

"You see, you can't even answer a simple question about your knowledge. Your character is so vague that it's practically nonexistent."

"again, i have no idea what you're talking about, old man-"

"Then let's make a small wager."

"eh?"

"If you can answer a question to my satisfaction, then I will stop belittling your actions and retire for the night."

Sans leaned back with a wary gaze. His instincts told him that he was venturing into very dangerous territory, and yet…

"and if I can't?"

"I'm keeping that condition a secret."

"hey, that's a pretty lopsided deal."

"Then don't take it. Just turn around, forget about me, and go back to your meaningless life, if you're too frightened by what I might ask." the man grunted, turning around and walking towards the stairs.

"what's the question?" Sans asked… before facepalming, as he allowed his bruised ego to override his better judgement.

"What sort of man… was W. D. Gaster?"

"... that's it?"

"Yes. That's the question."

Putting aside how this strange man knew that name, Sans sighed and chucked.

"oh, that's easy. he was my uncle. he was a smart, friendly guy who knew a lot of things. he was the royal scientist before alphys was, and he promised to break the barrier without relying on soul power."

"And everyone in the Underground had faith in him, yourself included. But then he failed you."

"and everyone in the underground…"

San stopped and recoiled in surprise.

"what the heck!? how do you know all of this shit!?" Sans shouted.

"That's because I know what you're going to say. I know what you're going to do. Everything about your canon characterization is vague, so it was inevitable that the author would struggle to fill in the blanks."

"what!?"

Sans found himself hyperventilating.

But then, he stopped and opted to stand up, relaxing with a deep breath.

* * *

While he was in college, Sans met a young lizard woman named Alphys.

They became fast friends over their shared interests of speculative physics and trashy anime.

They even started a brief relationship, even though relationships with the undead can be very awkward as the undead typically don't have libidos.

But the most important event in Sans's life was what happened when Dr. Gaster tried to use a variant of the DT Extractor to bend the laws of time and space.

Gaster's mistake was trying to break the time-space continuum without easy access to the power of the crimson soul, the legendary soul trait that has no equal.

An enormous fissure opened up in the floor of the Hotland building that belonged to the science division.

One by one, the scientists fell into the black abyss, never to be seen again.

At the edge of oblivion, Sans had wanted to save two of his loved ones, but he only had the power to save one.

The rest was history, and when the dust had settled, Sans fled with his younger brother in the dead of night, haunted by the horrible things he had seen… of an eldritch realm where time and space never had any meaning.

You can probably infer the events that happened later on, for without the drive to accomplish anything in life, Sans and Alphys had no choice but to lie around and wait for a savior to solve their problems for them.

And then Frisk fell into the Underground.

* * *

"and that's my story." said Sans. "but you already knew that, somehow."

"Of course. I read over your new fanon backstory myself." said the man. "I can show you the documents, if you'd like." the man pulled out a folder and offered it to Sans.

"nah, i think i'm starting to get your point." Sans shrugged. "so, it looks like i really was right. nothing i did in life ever mattered… so why are we even having this dumb conversation? is it because the author is a childish brat who takes indie games too seriously?"

"…Possibly." the man admitted. "Or maybe it's because the author sincerely wishes to make a point about you, your family, your friends, and the dubious morality system of Undertale. Because it really doesn't matter if your laziness is character-driven or narrative-driven. Either way, you're still a jackass who'll never be happy."

"i see. welp, if that's all, i'm going to grillby's…"

Suddenly, the two men heard the loud crackling of ice magic.

Looking over the railing, they were unsurprised to see a large iceberg poking up through the roof a fancy nightclub.

"i'm guessing that was lucia's doing, huh. i still don't know why you allow her to have free reign in this city. she goes around killing and eating humans for shits and giggles."

"And you permanently ruined your uncle's favorite telescope for the sake of a cheap prank. We all have our own ways of enjoying life, Sans."

"that still doesn't answer my question, old man."

"She's a jerk. She's insensitive. She's mean. She's annoying. She's sarcastic. She's unlikable. She's a know-it-all. She's foul. She's haughty. She's violent. She's psychotic. She's unapologetic. And she's a cynical asshole."

"… then why-"

"Because we have a working relationship, and despite everything, she's still an old friend of mine."

"uh. so, you're going to overlook all the awful things she's done? aren't you a bit biased because she's your friend?"

"Yes, but I could say the same for you."

"why?"

"Because you're more than willing to overlook Toriel's pride, Asgore's dim-witted nature, Alphys's deviousness, Undyne's haughtiness, and your brother's selfish mentality."

"care to explain those accusations, buddy?"

"I could, but then we'd be here all night, and this chapter is already long enough as it is. Now if you excuse me, I need to go clean up my friend's mess… again."

But before the man could leave, Sans had one final remark.

"hey, i never caught your name, old man."

Turning around, the werewolf cleared his throat.

"Kenneth Livingston, at your service."

And with that, the old man summoned a portal of violet energy and stepped through, leaving Sans alone with an elderly goat woman and his own thoughts.


	7. Asgore, The King Of Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mayor settles some business, and a king finds himself at a crossroads.

Stepping out into the open streets of Riverview City, Kenneth Livingston breathed out a huge sigh of relief.

When he had traveled to the local vampire nightclub, the Silver Chateau, he was quite annoyed to find Lucia there.

Lucia had brought two reluctant guests with her, a terrified lizard woman and a frozen fish woman.

Leaving the local vampire maids to handle her tagalongs, Lucia had proceeded to eat her way through the buffet tables. All twelve of them.

Understandably, the owner of the nightclub became rather annoyed with the ravenous wendigo, as it hadn't been the first time she had nearly driven him out of business with her binge-eating tendencies.

The anthropomorphic bat monster didn't have the raw magical power to forcibly eject the wendigo from his establishment, but he politely insisted that she vacate the premises.

She promptly spat on his face.

During the resulting scuffle, some canine monsters were fatally injured by stray ice spears, and the battle quickly ended when Lucia called upon her ice magic to summon a large glacier, the one that had sprung up in the previous chapter.

As it was rather late in the evening, Kenneth had calmly offered the irritable vampire a sizable amount of money to cover for the property damage before excusing himself, longing for the comforts of some warm food and a soft bed.

But first, he decided to pay a visit to a close friend of his.

* * *

Curled up on Sarah Amherst's favorite couch, Asgore suddenly realized that he had run of ways to keep his mind occupied.

So many things had happened ever since the Barrier had been erected by the ancient human Sages.

It had been a huge blow at the time, and to a newly christened king who had no idea what to do after the sudden death of his mother, Asgore had taken the matter quite personally. It had felt like an inconceivable betrayal of trust, especially since the leader of the Sages had been a very close friend of Asgore.

But as the centuries had gone by, Asgore had begun to ponder if the war could have ended any other way.

After all, humans and monsters had lived in harmony for quite some time.

The trouble only began when a nameless monster became the first to absorb a human soul, which prompted the prince of the humans to suddenly spring into action with a terrifying display of magical firepower.

As a young mage with a mysterious new soul trait of burning crimson, the human prince had used his power to cut a bloody swathe through the finest warriors of monsterkind.

This was no simple feat, as the monsters had already discovered that they could do incredible things with their magic.

Elemental mastery, shapeshifting, teleportation, mind manipulation, clairvoyance, resurrection, and the creation of life itself.

All were rendered useless by the prince, as his seemingly infallible foresight allowed him to obliterate anything that stood in his path.

In the end, the monsters were forced to yield, as they were fated to.

As hundreds of monsters fled across the ocean and into the sky, Asgore and Toriel were left behind… to futilely attempt to reason with the monsters and humans who remained.

For a fortnight, the Sages argued amongst themselves as to how to solve the dilemma that stood before them.

As hundreds upon hundreds of terrified humans cried out for the death of all monsters, the Sages came to a final decision.

Three called for genocide.

Three called for imprisonment.

And after considering each and every argument, the Crimson Sage made his choice… for good or for ill.

The monsters were sealed beneath Mount Ebott.

They were given a secret test, one that they would not learn about until it was far too late.

Asgore and Toriel grew close because they had no one else to turn to.

They had a beautiful son, and they adopted a capricious human child.

The children died on the same night, and the Underground was permanently fractured.

Toriel left for the Ruins, and Asgore never found the strength to reach out to her.

Six human children fell, and Asgore collected six human souls.

And the rest was history.

* * *

Walking up to the familiar door that belonged to his old friend, Kenneth promptly knocked three times on the door.

He fidgeted on the doorstep and cleared his throat.

It had been a while since had spoken with her, and he was looking forward to enjoying her excellent cooking. He had already anticipated that she had cooked some fried rice, a personal favorite of his.

However, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had forgotten to take care of something important.

* * *

As the elderly Boss Monster began to feel tears welling up in his eyes, he was startled to hear three firm knocks at the door.

Asgore then realized that he was in a rather compromising position.

He had chosen to take refuge from cruelness of reality by hiding in a stranger's house, after all.

The goat monster found himself longing for the peaceful days of his youth, when his biggest concern was whether or not Toriel would allow him to woo her.

* * *

Annoyed by the lack of a response, Kenneth promptly used his magic to open the door, revealing a Boss Monster who had stooped quiet low in order to reach for the doorknob.

The two men stared at each other.

As Asgore blinked twice in confusion, Kenneth sighed and motioned for the goat man to step aside so he could enter.

* * *

A little while later, Asgore found himself sitting on the now-familiar couch, sipping tea because that was the only thing that he knew how to avoid screwing up.

The elderly monarch found himself tensing up, and he couldn't stop his hands from shaking.

Asgore was certain that something bad was about to happen to him, and the funny thing… was that he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to escape his impending feelings of doom.

The Boss Monster had spent centuries wrestling with his guilt and his self-loathing.

Throughout his immensely long life, Asgore had known nothing but misery and loss.

These tenants of his character were so horrendously immense that he found himself drowning in them, even at this very moment.

And now, he just wanted for all of it… to end.

That's what happens when a dimwitted king runs out of excuses for the enormity of his stupidity and incompetence.

* * *

Leaning against a wall while looking over Asgore's disheveled appearance, Kenneth pondered what to do with the monarch.

When he had received a phone call around six chapters ago, he hadn't made any plans for what to do with Asgore, aside from acknowledging that his friend, in a sudden burst of compassion and empathy, had allowed the goat monster to sleep on her favorite couch.

Five years.

Five long years.

That's how long it took for people to stop arguing about Asgore's moral culpability.

No.

That is incorrect.

Five horrendous years had passed since the story of the Undertale had been brought into existence, courtesy of a small, white dog.

Over those five years, many things had happened.

A president had been elected, and a nation was torn by their opinions of him.

A second election had come all too soon, and the nation nearly tore itself apart under the strain.

People became sympathetic to the plight of the minorities in their society, and support for their cause became louder and louder until it had somehow evolved into a deafening roar of righteous fury… and petty hatred.

Riots erupted in the street, and the conflicts grew worse and worse until no one knew what to believe anymore.

But then again, that was all in the 21st Century, and the terrible events of that era were merely a distant memory for Kenneth Livingston.

After all, the humans soon realized that they had bigger problems to deal with.

And as a monster hiding in plain sight, Kenneth had had a front row seat to the pandemonium that erupted when monsters began to insert themselves into human society once more.

Putting aside his thoughts on the petty conflicts that had faded over the course of a hundred years, Kenneth eventually came to a final decision on the culpability of Asgore Dreemurr.

* * *

"You know who I am." said Asgore.

The werewolf nodded.

"You know what I have done."

The werewolf nodded again.

"You know that I must be punished."

The werewolf nodded a third time.

As the werewolf slowly reached into his pocket, Asgore calmly closed his eyes.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Asgore heard a small click as he felt something metallic press into his forehead.

As time seemed to stretch out into infinity, Asgore felt lightheaded, and his breathing intensified.

But despite all of that, Asgore felt strangely at peace.

Asgore had suffered for an eternity, in which he had lost his children, his wife, and his will to continue living in such a horrible reality.

His subjects were now free, and he was sure that Toriel would be a much better leader than him, with her sharp wit and indomitable will.

There was no room in the world for such a failure of a king.

Asgore had always known that he deserved to die for his sins.

And as he waited for the other monster to shoot him and end his suffering, Asgore only had one more wish.

To see his beloved Asriel and Chara, who were waiting for him in the afterlife.

The werewolf pulled the trigger.

* * *

Click.

As Kenneth held the unloaded pistol to Asgore's forehead, he couldn't help but glower at the weak smile on Asgore's face.

Kenneth had openly declared his intent to kill Asgore, and what had the king done?

Absolutely nothing.

Asgore had closed his eyes and waited for the sweat release of death.

Asgore's smile vanished, and he slowly opened his eyes.

The two men shared a glance.

Kenneth turned around and began to make his way towards the door, for he already had his answer to a question that had plagued the world for five years.

For Asgore Dreemurr is not a sage or a murderer.

He is nothing.

He always has been, and he always will be.

* * *

"Wait." Asgore softly called out.

The other man stopped, but did not turn around.

"…Why?" Asgore asked, not understanding what had just transpired. "Do you not know of all the terrible things I have-"

"You were the prince of the Dreemurr royal family." the werewolf interrupted. "You were a close friend of the Crimson Sage, Reada Rivera. You and your fiancée were sealed beneath Mount Ebott. You gained and lost two children, Asriel and Chara. In turn, you killed six human children in order to harvest their souls to break the Barrier and eradicate the human race. But after harvesting the first soul, your anger faded, and you couldn't decide whether or not to follow through with your half-hearted plan or call it off entirely. It was a pathetic choice on your part, and that's why you never bothered to reach out to Toriel, even though you always knew that she had barricaded herself in the Ruins. You could have opened the door yourself, but it wouldn't have mattered… because you already knew that she would reject all of your empty platitudes and promises. You attempted to kill my friend's child when everything came to a head, and then you found yourself lying on the ground, with the Barrier already gone."

Asgore found himself dumbfounded.

"And that brings us to the present day." said Kenneth. "Which begs the question, what exactly do you plan on doing with your new freedom, Asgore Dreemurr?"

"I… I…" Asgore stammered before falling silent.

He had no idea how this strange monster knew so much about him, but he was absolutely correct.

Asgore was a welp and a cowardly fool, and his actions had resulted in the deaths of six human children. He had attempted to kill a seventh child, only for events to miraculously work out by themselves.

And because of that, Asgore had no idea what he could possibly do now.

Seeing the expression on Asgore's face, Kenneth huffed, giving the goat monster the odd impression of pity… and disgust.

"You had nothing to do with yourself when all of your plans and goals went up in smoke, and that's why you secretly want someone to kill you. You think that a quick death will somehow fix all of the mistakes you've made. But death doesn't really fix much."

Kenneth suddenly marched forward to leer at Asgore from above, causing the king to recoil out of fear.

"We've both seen more than our fair share of death, and you should know as well as I do that death doesn't accomplish anything." the werewolf hissed. "When people die, they die. People don't get second chances when they kick the bucket. Not unless they have a special form of magic to protect them."

Asgore understood what the other monster was implying in a sudden moment of clarity.

He had encountered not one, but three humans with crimson souls, after all.

"…I cannot bear this burden. I cannot continue living with this guilt. Please. Kill me."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"KILL ME!" Asgore bellowed, releasing all of his rage and grief into one long howl.

"I said no. For goodness sake, do you honestly believe that throwing a temper tantrum will work on me? …It never worked on my mother, after all."

Asgore sniffled.

"And she always scolded me whenever I shed tears for being scolded. But that's neither here nor there."

"…Please."

"What?" Kenneth growled.

"Take this guilt away from me. I will do whatever you ask. I will even prostate myself before the families of the children I have murdered, if it will allow me to make amends." Asgore begged.

"There's something I need to ask you, Asgore."

Asgore blinked, weary from emotional exhaustion.

"Do you still have the possessions of the six human children?"

Asgore shook his head.

"Can you remember their names?"

Asgore shook his head again.

"Can you even remember what they looked like?"

Asgore shook his head for a third time.

"Then there's no point in seeking out those families."

"But…"

"Jesus Christ, use your god-damned brain for a moment instead of thinking with your bleeding heart!" Kenneth shouted. "Do I really have to spell out why it's pointless for a Boss Monster to seek out a bunch of short-lived humans? They're all probably dead by now, for crying out loud!"

Asgore shut his muzzle at that.

"Then… what about the human souls?"

"What about them?"

"I… I was hoping that I could find a way to apologize for the fates that befell them. After all, Toriel and I have not seen any sign of them since the Barrier…"

Asgore trailed off as Kenneth went still.

"Uh…"

A guttural growl began to form from the werewolf's throat, a deep rumble of rage that left Asgore quite shaken.

But then, the growling faded as Kenneth took a deep breath.

"So, that's it, huh? That's the narrative we're going with in this chapter."

Asgore blinked once more, not sure of what Kenneth was talking about.

Whirling around, Kenneth barely managed to stop himself from lunging at Asgore with a feral scream and outstretched hands.

It was a good thing too, as Asgore suddenly noticed that the other man's fingernails looked quite sharp in the dim lighting.

"Fantastic! That's just utterly fan-fucking-tastic! I knew I was forgetting something." Kenneth grumbled to himself. "I already have over seven billion human souls to keep track of, and you and your ex-wife just unleashed six renegade human souls on the Surface, which means that I now have to track them down when I'd rather just go to sleep at this point. Thank you… so much… for that. You are truly the pinnacle of our species."

Kenneth summoned a portal, but was interrupted by one last question.

"But what about…"

"ARRRRRRGGGGGHHH! SHUT THE FUCK UP, ASGORE! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT NOW!?"

"…My punishment?" Asgore meekly finished.

Kenneth's rage hit its peak… and then he sighed.

"I'm not going to punish you. In fact, no one is going to punish you, not even yourself. And you're not going to take your own life with your trident, either. It didn't accomplish anything the last time you did it, so there's no point in revisiting that plot point. You're going to have to live with your guilt for the foreseeable future, all by yourself. That's your punishment."

Asgore gaped at that. He didn't understand what a 'plot point' was, but he was certainly surprised to hear the other monster speak about his trident.

"Now if you excuse me, I have business to take care of."

Kenneth marched through the portal and vanished, leaving Asgore alone with his thoughts.

Asgore looked around as the house went quiet.

The dishes were all clean, and the floor was completely spotless.

Sarah and her child had not come back from their impromptu evening stroll, so Asgore had nothing to do.

And so, Asgore Dreemurr curled up on the couch… and quietly sobbed himself to sleep.


	8. A New Day In Riverview City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgore and Sarah have a conversation.

Making her way downstairs after going through her morning routine, Sarah Amherst was surprised to see that Asgore and her child were both waiting for her.

The goat monster and the young child were facing towards each other, but they both turned to look at the woman.

"Morning, mama." said Frisk.

Sarah stopped and did a double take. Frisk looked calm.

Unnaturally so.

"Sweetie, is there something I need to know?" Sarah delicately asked.

"Not really. I was just talking to Asgore about a few things." Frisk replied, before standing up and walking towards their mother.

"I… uh… breakfast?" Sarah offered.

Frisk shook their head and nodded towards the dining table, where Sarah noticed a butter dish and a butter knife, plus two plates with breadcrumbs.

"Is it alright if I take a walk? There's some stuff I need to think about." said Frisk.

Sarah tilted her head in confusion.

"Sweetie… are you really feeling alright? If you want, I can-"

"Mama, would you please stop treating me like a little kid!? It's not a big deal, I just want to clear my head for a minute." Frisk interrupted.

"Frisk, I really think-"

"Mama."

"I…" Sarah paused upon seeing her child's exasperated frown.

After a moment of hesitation, Sarah nodded, and Frisk huffed before stepping out the front door.

"Hmmm…" Sarah muttered, before noticing that Asgore was being very quiet.

"So, what exactly-"

Asgore promptly burst into tears and buried his head in his large, fuzzy hands.

Sarah sighed and decided to make some breakfast for herself, too weary to inquire about the unknown revelation had struck the goat monster.

* * *

A few minutes later, Asgore noticed that the sounds of dishwashing had faded, and the woman who had given him refuge was standing above him.

"I'm heading out for some errands."

The monster said nothing, still lying face down on the couch.

"I'd either ask you to hold the fort or warn you not to touch anything… but I don't think you're interested in doing either, are you?"

Silence.

"Well, I suppose… I'll… be… seeing you around, then?"

Asgore wordless shuffled on the couch.

As Sarah huffed and walked out of the house, Asgore felt nothing but self-loathing.

And then he felt self-loathing because he was disgusted with his self-loathing.

It was truly a vicious cycle.

* * *

Lying face-up, Asgore tried to occupy his dense mind by gazing up at the cream-colored ceiling.

He tried to think of all the different tea recipes he had yet to try.

He even tried to entertain the thought of becoming a humble gardener or a florist so he could put his talent for nurturing to good use… but then he remembered that his affinity for plants had led him to overlook everything else that mattered to him, and he felt sorry for himself once more.

Sitting up, Asgore slowly pulled himself to his feet… and walked outside, his misery having peaked over and settled into a calm apathy.

* * *

Looking away from the harsh glare of the sun, Asgore observed his surroundings.

The front porch was somewhat plain. There was a wide concrete slab that was raised above the ground, with a single stone step leading to a small sidewalk that led to the driveway.

The front lawn was a deep green, with patches of dirt and yellow grass.

But what caught Asgore's attention… was the small garden in front of the house.

Pink coneflowers, red zinnias, yellow marigolds, purple impatiens, and blue morning glories.

Asgore noted that the flowers seemed somewhat wilted.

Walking to the driveway, Asgore slowly made his way to the backyard, where he found a patio, more flowers, more grass, and a small bike trail that was hidden behind a cluster of tall trees.

Out in the open, Asgore came across various gardening tools.

Looking at all of the shovels, trowels, rakes, and cutters, Asgore found a large trowel that was a perfect fit for his large hand.

Finding some packets of mulch and a plain water hose, Asgore decided to see what he could do about the plants.

* * *

As he worked, Asgore found himself going through the simple motions of digging through the soil, gingerly lifting up the plants, replanting them with mulch, and then giving them an even spray of water.

Setting into a comfortable rhythm, Asgore was so intent on his self-appointed task that he wasn't aware of another presence until-

"Ahem."

Dropping the trowel and a clump of zinnias, Asgore was mortified to see Frisk's mother, who was staring at him with an odd expression, grocery bags in hand.

"I… er… I… simply… um…" Asgore stammered, acutely aware of the fact that he was sweaty and caked in pungent mulch.

The garden and the lawn were now incredibly messy, and Asgore felt numb, as if now realizing that he had over-stepped his boundaries.

Asgore felt an impending sense of doom, an acute, painful feeling that he was very familiar with, a feeling that he had experienced whenever Toriel would approaching him to speak of some foolish decision on his part.

The goat king felt the urge to do something shameful and foolish, the thing that his ex-wife would always harshly chide him for.

Sarah opened her mouth to speak.

But before she could say anything, Asgore collapsed in a heap on the ground, curled himself up, and cried.

He sobbed at his foolishness.

He sobbed at his incompetence.

He sobbed at his inability to stop himself from sobbing.

He cried, and he cried, and he cried.

Asgore could do nothing but cry because he couldn't think of anything else to do.

Upon hearing gentle footsteps across the soil, Asgore subconsciously braced himself for a painful slap… but nothing of the sort came.

Instead, he felt the unexpected warmth of another person, as Sarah pressed herself against the king in a wordless hug.

* * *

Asgore was dumbfounded. He had expected yelling, screaming, and painful humiliation, so why was this woman hugging him?

He quickly recoiled and attempted to scoot away, not wanting to humiliate himself any further… and failing miserably.

"It's okay."

Asgore stopped.

"It's okay, Asgore. I'm not going to rip your head off."

Asgore blinked, trying to reconcile his guilt with a display of what appeared to be… empathy?

Sighing to herself, Sarah placed her groceries on a small table to the side, and moved to sit beside Asgore in the dirt.

Sarah didn't anything after that, and Asgore didn't have the courage to say anything.

As the two individuals sat together in silence, Asgore wondered how long it had been since he had sat quietly with another living person instead of a harmless plant.

After Toriel had rightfully left him for his patheticness, Asgore's existence had turned into a lonely horizon of eternal solitude.

But was solitude truly the right term?

Solitude implied a voluntary choice to retreat from the woes of society to take refuge in the company of oneself, but Asgore could hardly say that his choice was voluntary, was it?

Perhaps the correct term was solitary confinement, as Asgore was trapped by his role as the king of his people, and by a dilemma that had no perfect solution.

Sage? Or murderer?

But wasn't that a cowardly way of thinking? After all, if Asgore was merely trapped by horrid circumstances that were completely outside of his control, then wouldn't that imply that he bore no responsibility for everything that had been said and done?

As he sat on the grass, listening to swaying grass in a gentle breeze, Asgore came to realize that the only conflict that truly mattered… was the one that dwelled within himself.

All throughout his life, Asgore had seen bad things happen to his friends, his family, his wife, and his children.

And every time a bad thing happened, Asgore had wanted to do something to fix the tragedy… or to prevent more tragedy at the very least.

But despite his good intentions, Asgore had always stopped himself from doing anything that could upset people or make these situations worse, because he never had the faintest idea of what he could do to make things right.

Toriel was a confident, headstrong woman who once declared that she would fix all the problems of the world… and Asgore fell in love with her.

Reada was a human who possessed empathy to match his power and strength… and Asgore was proud to call him a friend.

Gerson was a loyal friend who would never hesitate to speak his mind in the face of prejudice and tyranny… and Asgore respected him more than he ever respected himself.

There were many other people that Asgore looked up to as well.

Doctor W. D. Gaster, for his endless enthusiasm and daring.

Sans, for his quiet confidence.

Papyrus, for his endless optimism.

Undyne, for her unyielding passion.

Alphys, for her intellectual talent and sincere kindness.

And all the other subjects within his kingdom, for they would always approach each new day in the Underground with a big smile and a playful joke.

Perhaps Asgore's problem was that he never acknowledged his envy of the people around him.

Perhaps he was too busy admiring the strengths of other people to see any strength in himself.

Perhaps he really was a good person trapped by fate.

Or perhaps he truly was a cowardly, dimwitted fool.

It's not like Asgore could ever decide that on his own.

As Gerson once said, Toriel was always the smart one.

* * *

"You've been through a lot, haven't you." said Sarah, phrasing her query as statement and not a question.

Asgore nodded.

"Hm… I see." Sarah grunted.

Asgore stayed silent, not sure of where the conversation would lead.

"… Mind if I tell you a short story?" Sarah asked, wanting to be polite even though Asgore was in no position to say no to anyone.

In turn, Asgore nodded, still lost in his own apathy.

* * *

A very long time ago, there was a princess who lived in a far-away kingdom.

She was a pretty little thing who was smothered in her parents' love and the approval of her subjects.

Fine food, endless admiration, a library with enough reading material for centuries… the princess had everything she could ever want.

So inevitably, she lost it all in the span of a single night.

There was a disaster caused by magic, born from the dark secrets of the kingdom's nature.

Soul power has always been a double-edged sword.

It is powerful, but almost impossible to fully control.

It is unpredictable, and there are no limits to what it can accomplish.

The rulers of that kingdom used soul power so that everyone could enjoy lives of peace and comfort, doing away with the limitations of prejudice, pain, and suffering.

But in the end, the kingdom's strength became its very weakness.

The scholars of the kingdom sought out the abyss, so they could learn everything there was to know about their world.

They succeeded.

But as a famous German philosopher once said…

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

…And the abyss was hungry.

Running from an all-consuming nightmare that promised nothing but death, destruction, and endless suffering, the princess fled.

She threw away her family, her home, and her identity, all so she could save herself.

And as the years went by, she began to have doubts about her choice.

For if she had refused to flee, then perhaps the abyss would have eventually reunited her with her parents… through death.

* * *

"What happened after that?" Asgore asked. "Did… the… princess…"

Asgore trailed off, not wanting to voice an idea that had haunted him for so long.

"No, she didn't." Sarah softly spoke. "She eventually found a purpose. She found herself in a fierce battle to save the world… and she succeeded, with the help of two loyal friends. The abyss was banished, and everyone lived happily ever after."

Silence.

"But the ending wasn't quite happy or perfect. Many people were lost forever, and the princess grew weary of all the fighting."

Sarah slowly drew herself to her feet.

"She gave birth a wonderful child, and she vowed to live out the rest of her days as best she could, with her friends and family by her side."

"…Where is the princess now? Where did she go?"

"…Who knows? Perhaps nothing happened to her. Perhaps she opted to vanish from the pages of history. She was simply the hero of a fairy tale, after all."

* * *

A little while later, Sarah had convinced Asgore to stand up, brushing away some of the dirt on his shirt.

"So, what do you want to do now, Asgore?"

Asgore choked.

"Everybody has something that they want to do… and surely you can say the same, right? Unless you were planning on staying here."

More silence.

"Asgore, you can't stay here forever. You do realize why, right? Fish and visitors…"

"…Smell in three days." Asgore sadly finished, reciting a very familiar proverb.

The woman tried to think of a solution, and she eventually found one.

"Take off your clothes."

"I… what?" Asgore did a double-take. Was she asking…

Sarah rolled her eyes.

"No, not like that! I'm telling you should take a shower. To be blunt, you could do with one."

Asgore became acutely aware of the fact that he had not tended to his hygiene in over two days.

"After that, get dressed. I'll cook up some lunch, and then we can talk about finding you a place of your own."

Asgore blinked.

"Well, go on. What exactly are you waiting for?" Sarah asked.

The king fidgeted, and Sarah slightly deflated at that.

"Asgore, I'm not saying you have to come up with the answer for every problem in the world at this very moment. I'm not even saying that you have to come up with one answer. What I'm saying… is that things aren't going to get better. Not if you keep doing what you've been doing over the centuries."

She gave him a small smile.

"I can help you along, because it's not the sort of journey that anybody should be making alone. But you have to take the first step."

Asgore said nothing, but he began to feel an odd sensation, something that he hadn't felt in a very long time.

"Do you get what I'm saying?"

Asgore wasn't completely sure about that. There were so many things that he had done, stupid things that he could never take back. He hadn't even properly settled his business with the child he had tried to kill, let alone the mother of said child.

In fact, the child had just revealed some very unsettling things, things that Asgore wanted to completely purge from his mind.

But upon seeing the bright expression on the mother's face, Asgore suddenly realized that he could sense desperation from Sarah Amherst, earnest desperation that almost matched his own.

And in the face of such earnestness, Asgore did the only sensible thing, for once.

He stepped forward.


	9. What Happened Last Night, Anyways?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys has an erotic dream. But it doesn't last very long.

Snuggling under a soft comforter while wearing nothing but her undergarments, Alphys felt warm… and a bit lascivious.

Lost in the comforter's warm embrace, she was dimly aware of a large presence that climbed under the sheets.

As she held her breath, the presence drew closer, and put their arms around her in a sultry hug.

"Hey, Alphysssss…" came a soft rumble.

Blushing, Alphys's heart soared at Undyne's familiar voice as the presence leaned in cuddle against her.

"What's the password for your phone?" the presence asked, causing Alphys to shiver in ecstasy at the cold breath on her neck.

Caught up in her lust, Alphys couldn't help but play along with her dreamlike, erotic desires.

"Oh, it's mew…mew…6…"

Wait.

What?

* * *

Opening her eyes, Alphys quietly gazed at the pink wallpaper that lined the room.

Alphys heard a huff and she felt the tingling sensation of cold air, giving her a bad case of the shivers.

"Morning, Alphys."

Upon hearing Undyne's voice, Alphys slowly rolled over to come face to face with a rather familiar deer skull.

Alphys promptly screamed at the top of her lungs.

* * *

"Hahahaha! I can't believe you actually fell for a simple trick like that!" Lucia giggled.

Alphys said nothing, opting to lean further back against the wall to put as much distance between her and the horrifying monster as she could.

"…H-how…"

"Hm?"

Alphys stopped, not wanting to give the wendigo the satisfaction of how much she had rattled her.

"What, are you curious about how I mimicked your girlfriend's voice?"

Alphys shook her head in disgust.

"Well, too bad. I feel like talking about it because I don't have a lot going on right now." Lucia huffed. "You know about the myths of the wendigo, about how there are a bunch of different variations that give different descriptions on what sort of powers we have?"

Alphys blinked.

"Right. Of course you haven't." Lucia grunted. "Well, most people know that we're terrifying creatures. We can shrug off low caliber bullets, bend metal with a flick of the wrist, and move faster than most people can blink."

Silence.

"But what most people don't like to dwell on is the infamous wendigo psychosis. You've at least heard of that, haven't you?"

As Lucia continued to ramble, Alphys took a moment to try and think of a way to get out of the terrifying situation she had found herself in.

This monster, Lucia… was an absolute nutcase, and a horrifying freak of nature to boot.

Yesterday, she had made her first impression by murdering a dozen humans in brutal, disgusting ways.

If she would be so callous as to slaughter people wantonly, then what would stop her from doing the same to Alphys?

Alphys briefly entertained the notion of making some sort of desperate act of defiance. She had a few small devices on her, after all.

Perhaps it would be better to die a quick death than to be slowly torn to pieces by a sadistic monster, ignoring what the phrase, 'sadistic monster' said about her damaged worldview.

But was that truly the right option, here?

Alphys realized that Undyne was slumbering away on a separate bed, unaware of what was happening.

Upon seeing her personal heroine in such a state, any thoughts of retaliation simply went up in smoke.

The lizard woman realized that she had something to lose.

Deep down, Alphys had felt as if the world had chosen not to punish her for her failures as the Royal Scientist for some inane reason.

The only person who really cared about what she had done was Queen Toriel, and the only consequence of that conversation was the loss of her position, which hardly seemed to matter in the face of death itself.

If Alphys suddenly died here and now, wouldn't it be a just fate for a lowly failure such as her?

But no, this situation wasn't just about Alphys and her selfish wish.

If she did something to piss this monstrosity off and died as a result… then what would happen to Undyne?

Would the wendigo kill her next?

It was at that moment that Alphys suddenly realized… that she didn't have complete faith in Undyne's capabilities as a protector or a true heroine.

And that was what truly scared her-

"Are. You. Done?"

Looking up, Alphys squeaked upon realizing that Lucia had stopped monologuing and was now pressing her face to Alphys with a disdainful glare.

Alphys shrunk back even further, vaguely realizing that she had accidently backed herself into a corner of the room.

Seeing how the wendigo was now baring her fangs at her in a terrifying snarl, Alphys desperately prayed to any deity that might be listening… but there weren't any.

She desperately prayed that Lucia wasn't aware of what she had been thinking.

"So, you think I'm a horrifying freak of nature? Well, if that's what you truly believe, than I have no reason to prove otherwise. And yet you people wonder why I hate pretentious jackasses like you…"

Alphys slumped, fully aware that she was going to die in a tiny room, with no way to escape her cruel fate.

She closed her eyes, wishing with all of her soul to be reincarnated as something harmless like a shrub or a butterfly…

"Ugh! Room service here! Could somebody open the fucking door!?" came a hoarse voice from outside the room.

After glancing between Alphys and the door a few times, Lucia decided to prioritize her second breakfast over killing the defenseless lizard.

Lucia briskly walked to the other end of the room and twisted the knob, revealing an anthropomorphic bat woman with black fur and a French maid outfit.

Shuffling into the room, the vampire maid sighed and presented a serving cart with some dishes and drinks.

"Ah, finally! I thought that I was going to have to settle for raw lizard." Lucia sighed, lifting up a stainless steel plate cover to reveal… a slab of meat.

It was completely raw.

Lucia turned to glower at the maid.

"What the hell!? I asked for medium steak. Not medium rare. Not medium well. MEDIUM."

"Oh? I thought that wendigos preferred their meat raw, like the savages they are." the maid huffed.

Lucia went still, and Alphys cringed.

"I'm assuming that you recently became a vampire and are now venting your frustrations on me because you hate your job as an indentured servant whose only purpose is to serve the whims of real monsters."

Lucia gave the maid a dark look.

"Now, since you're new to monster-monster relationships… I'm going to give you one chance to take that back and apologize."

The maid spat on the floor… and she was promptly pinned to the wall by an ice spear through her throat.

What?

You saw what the scary wendigo did to those racist, one-dimensional humans.

Why are you surprised?

* * *

As the maid began to gurgle and choke, Lucia breathed out a sigh of exhaustion.

Looking down at the raw meat, she snorted.

"Yeah, I probably should have sent the steak back before I threw that spear, huh."

Noticing that the room had gone quiet, Lucia craned her neck around to glance at Alphys.

"Hm. Terrible room service, am I right?"

Upon receiving no response, Lucia shrugged and helped herself to a large martini with a little umbrella.

* * *

Groaning, Undyne slowly came to her senses as she heard two people talking about something.

Sitting up and shaking her head, the first thing that Undyne noticed was that her new girlfriend was chatting with the horrible monster who had frozen the fishy heroine last night.

"NGGGAAAHHH!"

"W-wait, Undyne! Don't-"

Undyne leaped to her feet and charged forward with a right hook… but the wendigo caught it with her left hand.

Undyne tried to pull her hand back, but it was locked in an iron grip.

Lucia slowly twisted her wrist while applying more pressure, nearly crushing the appendage while causing Undyne to fall to her knees.

As the wendigo leered in the fish woman's face, Undyne tried to bare her teeth in a snarl, but the next thing she heard was an ominous snap, and she felt excruciating pain in her wrist.

* * *

As Undyne howled, cradling her broken wrist and crying out tears of pain, Alphys had retreated back to her corner with her own tears of fear.

Seeing how the two younger monsters were thoroughly traumatized, Lucia decided that there wasn't much to gain from tormenting them further at this point. And sure, driving them insane right here and now could have been entertaining… but then she would have had to find some new form of entertainment.

There's no fun to be had from bullying a vegetable who can't fight back, after all.

* * *

A little while later, Alphys finally found the courage to say something, as Undyne had blacked out from her pain.

"W-why…"

"Hm?" Lucia asked, munching on some freshly cooked steak, courtesy of a nameless maid who had wisely chosen not to say anything to the hungry wendigo.

"Why are you so… awful? Why us? W-what… what did we ever d-do to you?"

"Not much, really. You were new to the city, and I was looking for someone to chat with. Everything about you screamed, 'I'm an adorkable egghead and an easy target who believes in stupid pacifism! Please bully me!'" Lucia grunted.

Alphys slumped, unable to comprehend how this… person… was able to do such scary things… and so effortlessly to boot.

"It's because I have power."

Alphys stiffened.

"It's because I have power and you don't. Now, societies change over time. I've seen it happen myself. But in the end, we always come back to the same stupid argument. Sure, we can mince words and engage in banal debates on how killing people is wrong and that you shouldn't use your powers for selfish reasons… but the end, there's only one law that Mother Nature recognizes. Survival of the fittest. Natural selection. Kill or be killed."

"B-but…"

"Yep, that's what I thought. Typical bleeding heart response. But hold up… you're a scientist, right?"

Alphys carefully nodded.

"Then you're familiar with Darwin's Theory of Evolution, then."

Alphys blinked, not expecting the other monster to mention that, of all things.

"Oh, come on. I'm a wendigo, not a meathead. I read things too, you know."

Seeing how the lizard was stunned, Lucia took a moment to compose her thoughts… fully aware that she was likely going to piss off a lot of people with her words.

"It's not just about Darwin and his finches. If you can pry your eyes away from your screens for a moment and take some time to observe nature, what do you see?"

"… Trees and b-birds?"

"And?"

"…B-buildings… lakes… and… p-people?"

"You're not getting it, Alphys. I suppose you're that kind of intellectual. You'd fit right in with Kenneth's crowd."

Alphys said nothing, not understanding what the wendigo was hinting at.

Also… harsh.

"Every time he goes on a huge rant on how he keeps failing to get any number of humans or monsters or people to 'stop being stupid for a goddamned minute', he always gets huffy when I try to remind him of how things work in the wilderness, far away from modern civilization. Can you imagine living in a time period where the world didn't have smartphones?"

Alphys vigorously shook her head.

"Yeah, I thought so." Lucia chuckled. "Well, that's how things worked during the ancient times, in that civilization where the Dreemurr and Rivera families managed to work out some sort of agreement to live in peace and harmony and all that cheesy stuff. And it worked… for a time. But then the war came, and everything quickly went straight to hell. Do you know why?"

"B-because… the humans attacked out of fear and paranoia-"

"Ahem."

B-because… the monsters… wanted to protect…"

"Still missing the point."

"I… I d-don't know. What else would it be?"

"It's because of nature. Human nature and monster nature… combined into one big, stupid, fuck-up in the making."

Alphys had nothing to say to that.

"Ever since the dawn of time, there has always been one cardinal rule. As long as there's at least two people left on the Surface, someone will always want someone dead."

"That's a t-terrible thing to say. It's so cynical and horrible… and… foul…"

"But does that make it untrue? A lot of people would say yes and brush me off as a homicidal maniac… but I'm not asking them. I'm asking you. Think back to what you know of human history and human-monster history. People have killed each other for any number of reasons."

Alphys tried not to think of anything, and failed miserably.

"Invidia, for when for when people are jealous of the success of others."

There once was a scientist who could never live up to impossible expectations, no matter how hard she tried.

"Avaritia, for when people believe that possessions are all that matter in life."

A ghost monster was unhappy with his boring life as a snail farmer, and left it behind in search of fame and riches.

"Luxuria, for when people will do anything to find their one true love."

A terrifying wendigo swore that she cared for no one, but she found herself drawn to a hero who wanted to make things better for everyone.

"Superbia, for when people become so fed up with the stupidity of the people around them that they'll do anything to make them shut up."

A bitter werewolf spent his whole life being talked down to by his parents. So when his peers said the exact same things that they would say to an ignorant child, he swore that he would prove to the imbeciles just how stupid they truly were.

"Acedia, for when people are so disillusioned that they stop caring about anything or anyone. They'll calmly watch the world burn because it's not their damn problem."

A skeleton though he was the smartest, most capable person in the Underground. He was wrong.

"Ira, for when people have lost everything and want everyone else to burn. Usually when a few dead children are involved."

Two monsters lost their children on the same day. They both locked themselves away, choosing to hide from the world in defiance and in fear.

"And Gula, for when people sate their hunger through eating and killing those that are weaker than them."

Lucia softly huffed.

"I'm guilty of this one, but so is everyone else I've ever met. I mean, do you know how many cows are processed by the food industry so that we can all enjoy tasty burgers? It's a pretty big number."

"… A-aren't you…p-projec…" Alphys trailed off.

"Projecting? Well… maybe a bit… but I wouldn't recommend saying that to everyone you meet. Some people really, really hate it when you accuse them of it. And they'll shoot you. With bullets."

Leaning back against the wall after giving a wise (and oddly specific) statement, Lucia calmly smiled at a fond memory that only made sense to her.

"But in the end, it doesn't matter what reasons you cling to. Death is a natural part of life. And it's also natural to want to resist death, even if you have to hasten others to their own in the process."

The two monsters fell silent, and Alphys felt empty.

"From Darwin's finches, to the Venus flytraps, to the cuckoo birds… Mother Nature can be many things. She may be fine and balanced, even kind… but she is not fair. She never has been."

"What was the p-point of that? The story, and the p-patronizing lecturing. Was it really necessary?"

"No, not really. It's just that you seem confused by everything that's happened so far. And I thought you might want to hear this sooner than later… before you lose something important."

* * *

Standing up, Lucia pulled out a smartphone and began to type on it.

"Let see… mew…mew…six…nine."

Alphys suddenly choked, realizing that Lucia was holding her smartphone. She made a move to try and get it back, only to interrupted by an ice spike that flew past her head and embedded itself next to the maid from before, who was still pinned to the wall.

"H-how did you get my password?"

"Magic… and you mumbled it in your sleep. Hmm… you've got a nice stash of pictures here. Don't care for the flamboyant robots, but you've got some great taste in anime girls."

"Hey, g-give me my phone back!" Alphys cried out, leaping to her feet and jumping up, even as Lucia simply held the phone higher. "I thought that wendigos weren't interested in that kind of thing, anyways!"

Lucia glanced down with a look of disdain.

"Are you assuming things about me just because I'm a wendigo? Don't be a bigot."

The poor lizard had been rudely awakened by a fake voice.

She had been powerless to do anything while a sadist had killed a hapless maid and hurt the woman that she loved.

She had been forced to listen to a lecture about death and murder.

The sadist was browsing through her hentai collection.

And now the sadist had just called her a bigot.

Alphys's mind went blank.

* * *

Lucia calmly watched as Alphys began to laugh manically with a dull look in her eyes.

"I mean, you're assuming that I can't be interested in tasty and yummy-looking women because of my species. Going by the logic of your stereotypical social justice warrior, that makes you a bigot. Huh. A homoromantic wendigo, calling a bisexual lizard monster a bigot. Bet you didn't see this coming, huh."

The smartphone slipped out of Lucia's hand, and the glass screen broke when it hit the hard metal of the serving cart.

Having run out of things to do for the moment, Lucia was pleasantly surprised when Papyrus suddenly burst into the room.

"Let me guess… you've been running from your new fanclub all night, and you need a place to hide."

Papyrus opened his mouth, shut it, and nodded before collapsing on the floor.

Hearing the ominous shrieking of an incoming horde of skeleton fangirls, Lucia calmly took off her cloak and draped it over the young skeleton.

"Hey, have you seen Papyrus the Skeleton!?" said a skeleton fangirl who was peeking into the room.

"Nope, but I know of another skeleton you could be chasing instead."

"Gasp! Really!? Tell me about him!"

"He's a short, fat, lazy man named Sans. He's a jerk, a straw nihilist, and he can shoot lasers at people. He's a walking meme, complete with ketchup, grease, unfunny jokes and an overrated theme song."

"O...M...G… That sounds like the sexiest thing ever! I have to go tell the others!" The crazy fangirl ran off, overlooking the skeleton in the room.

Sighing, Lucia pondered what to say next.

"Well, this was an interesting morning. Looks like these three have had enough excitement for one chapter." the wendigo muttered, observing the unconscious fish, the half-crazed lizard, and the slumbering skeleton.

"If you're confused by what just happened, I wouldn't sweat it too much. In Riverview City, things tend to happen without rhyme or reason. It makes you wonder if God really exists, and whether or not he's just a petty man-child who's fucking with you for shits and giggles."

Lucia shrugged, as even though she was a horrifying monstrosity and an awful person… she had just raised a fair point.

"But what would I know? I'm just a psychotic wendigo, remember?"

Also a fair point.

Lucia turned towards the pinned maid, who was still desperately clinging to life.

"Now if you excuse me, it's time for my third breakfast."

Should I explain, or do you want to say it?

"Psh, don't bother. If they're as smart as they think they are, they'll understand what I'm going to do to this dumb maid."

Right. And I suppose now's not the best time to reveal that you have a-

"Shut up, Kenneth! Nobody cares, and I'm hungry!"

You're always hungry!

And… Well… Excuse me for wanting to provide proper exposition for my audience! I suppose I could place the Undertale Crew in a situation where they have to make important decisions without the proper context and see how they like it…

Nah, forget it. I already have enough on my plate.

Sarah's going to have a tough time pulling Asgore out of his slump, and I have a very annoying goat woman to deal with.


	10. Finding A Purpose In Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenneth Livingston attempts to enjoy a perfect cup of hot chocolate.

Semisweet chocolate… one ounce.

Unsweetened cocoa powder… one tablespoon.

Milk… one cup.

Granulated sugar… two tablespoons.

Salt… one pinch.

Kraft Jet-Puffed Mini Marshmallows… six units.

"Uh, Dad, what are you doing?" came the voice of a young fox monster.

"I'm going over my recipe for hot chocolate." said Kenneth Livingston, who was standing at the kitchen countertop.

"It kind of sounds like a Fullmetal Alchemist reference." said Briar, who had come to investigate the pleasant smell of cocoa.

"That's because it is a Fullmetal Alchemist reference."

The two monsters shared a glance.

"…You know you're not supposed to explain your own jokes, right?"

"Of course."

"…Have you even seen Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Which version?"

"Either one."

"Nope, but I've seen the relevant YouTube clips of Roy Mustang vs Lust."

"Then why are you making references to a show you've never watched!?"

"Because I enjoy dumb anime references more than dad jokes. Would you rather I switch to dad jokes?"

"You're bluffing." Briar gasped.

"What is black and white and black and white and black and white-"

"Nope! Nopenopenopenopenope!"

As the young fox quickly left the room, Kenneth Livingston sighed and went back to stirring the brown, sugary elixir within the mug.

Testing the consistency with a sip, Kenneth frowned upon seeing that there was a clump of sugar at the bottom.

He tried to stir a bit more vigorously, but the clump still remained.

No matter how good your cocoa recipe is, there will always be a clump of sugar at the bottom. You can stir at it and poke it, but it'll always be sitting there.

Like an eyesore.

Taunting you.

Mocking you.

Snipping at you.

Needling you over your imperfections.

Of course, there are worse problems than a tiny clump of sugar.

Kenneth careful picked up the mug, walked across the room, opened the door to his office… and was immediately greeted by a miniature snowstorm to the face.

* * *

Looking around, Kenneth noted that the entire suite was now lined with fresh snow, and the temperature had rapidly dropped to an uncomfortable degree.

The mug had fallen out of his hand, and the precious liquid had turned to ice in the freezing temperature.

Making sure that his weather protection enchantment was still working, Kenneth steeped into the office to gaze upon the large wendigo who was lounging on his favorite office chair.

"I'm booooooored." Lucia drawled.

"Was the snowstorm really necessary? I was looking forward to that hot chocolate."

"You can warp reality. You can just whip up a new mug whenever you want, Mister Fuzzball."

Glowering at the annoying suite guest, Kenneth reluctant called upon his magic, causing two piping mugs of hot chocolate to appear on the desk.

The werewolf and the wendigo each grabbed one mug, giving each other a pointed look.

Kenneth quietly sipped from his mug, while Lucia gulped down her portion in one motion.

"So, mind telling me what prompted you to come and visit?"

"It's because you promised me a good fight, and these new monsters? They're not enough. Quite the opposite. They're a bunch of pacifists." Lucia spat.

"Careful, Lucia. You might end up offending someone with an insult like that."

"Let them be offended. It's not my fault they all believe in a dumb, suicidal philosophy that doesn't accomplish anything."

"Many would beg to differ…"

"Like you?"

Kenneth shook his head, and Lucia scoffed.

"It's been over a millennium, and the Dreemurrs are still as dumb as ever. I even heard a rumor that they somehow managed to get their children killed over the human soul issue. I'm not even sure why you're trying to find a place for them in the city."

"It's because I didn't have a lot else to do… and besides, someone had to acknowledge our society's need for conflict."

"So, you decided to let them stay here and live off your generosity… just so you could see them stumble around and screw-up a bunch? … Hm. And people call me a sadist."

"Well, what would you prefer? Don't tell me you enjoyed those years we spent running from one doomed community to another, desperately hoping that the humans wouldn't hunt us down and execute us in cold blood before we somehow managed to save the world?"

"Hm…"

"Lucia." Kenneth growled.

"What? Sure, things were a bit more uncertain back then, but it was a lot more exciting! The fights, the silly political drama, watching humans and monsters kill each other for shits and giggles… It was a lot more satisfying than breaking that idiotic fish woman's wrist. Can't we go back to the old days?" Lucia gestured wildly.

"No, because that would endanger our children. More specifically, that would endanger my children, as well as Frisk. The last thing we need is a ticking time bomb resulting from a child who has seen and experienced things that would break a hundred humans a hundred times over."

Lucia scratched her chin, dwelling on what she wanted to ask of her old acquaintance.

"You know, this 'perfect society' you've set up… it kind of sucks."

"What makes you say that?"

"Nobody in the city has the power to match mine, because you're obsessed with keeping those human souls locked away."

"Soul power is still as volatile as ever, and you're one of the few people I can trust not to go nuclear at moment's notice."

The wendigo tilted her neck.

"Hmph. I'm glad to hear that you care so much about my safety."

Kenneth rolled his eyes.

"If over a millennia of walking the Earth hasn't gotten you to change your ways or your attitude, I doubt that a simple Kirk Summation would do the trick. What exactly do you want… right now?"

"A challenge." Lucia shot back, crossing her arms. "If soul power is the only thing that can give me a good fight, I'll take it."

Kenneth did a double take at that last statement.

"Are you asking me to give you one of the spare human souls!?"

"Yeah, because you're not doing anything with them. They're just… sitting there, in the empty void."

The man let out a loud sigh of frustration.

"I'm not taking that risk. One monster with a human soul has the power to wipe out a hundred humans, and it also gives them the potential to become a god-like being who can control time and space with impunity. I already have enough of a headache trying to keep your bottomless appetite satisfied."

The two monsters went silent for a moment.

"Welp, I think that's enough exposition for now." Lucia grunted, standing up and meandering to a corner of the room. "I've been thinking of paying Sarah a surprise vis-"

"NGGGAAAHH!" came a loud, obnoxious war cry, as Undyne suddenly burst into the room, slamming the door against the wall.

Looking between the fish woman's face and her bandaged wrist, Kenneth gave her a dour look.

As the fish woman began to shout obscenities at the werewolf for some unknown reason (it probably had something to do with Lucia), the wendigo calmly watched from behind, using her magic to conceal her presence from Undyne's senses.

And as Kenneth began to make angry gestures at the ignorant fish woman, Lucia began to ponder if Undyne had enough tolerance for Determination to withstand the backlash of absorbing a human soul…


	11. A Pleasant Meal At Grillby's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah and Asgore walk through the city in search of a warm meal.

Two strange companions found themselves walking along the roads of Riverview City.

One was a Boss Monster who had no idea where he wanted to go.

The other was a reclusive woman who insisted that she had a destination in mind… even though she knew that wasn't really true.

As Asgore looked around the city, he noticed that it was a rather quiet morning. There were no people in the general vicinity, so there wasn't much to listen to, other than the chirping of the local birds and the rustling of grass and leaves in the wind.

"I…"

"Hm?"

"Er… never mind."

Closing his muzzle, Asgore was acutely aware of the fact that he couldn't think of anything to say.

Up to this point, his experience upon reaching the Surface had been quite surreal.

After quickly distancing himself from Toriel by rushing down the mountain when the irritable woman had given him a harsh glare, Asgore had wandered around in a daze, ending up in the home of Frisk's mother.

She had offered him food, clothing and shelter even though she didn't have a reason to do so. And deep within Asgore's dimwitted mind, he was certain she was ready to judge him even more harshly than Toriel ever could.

He had attempted to murder her child, after all.

But pushing aside his feelings of guilt, Asgore desperately wracked his brain for something, anything that could distract himself from his own thoughts.

"… Nice day today."

Sarah slowly came to a stop, calmly turned around, and gave Asgore a perfectly neutral expression.

Asgore winced.

It had been some time since the goat monster had tried to engage another living being in idle chit-chat, and Sarah had noticed.

At least, he assumed she had noticed… because he wasn't quite sure if that's what her expression meant.

In hindsight, perhaps choosing to practice one's conversational skills with golden flowers wasn't the best way to spend a long stretch of self-imposed solitude.

But after tilting her head, Sarah nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it."

The woman stretched her arms above her head, cracked her neck, and took a deep breath.

"It's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of modern, everyday life, and just…"

She didn't finish her sentence, instead opting to continue onwards, letting the thought hang in the air.

The atmosphere felt thick, and Asgore could have sworn that he could taste it.

It was the taste of stale pie and lukewarm tea.

* * *

After a few more minutes of walking, the two travelers came to a modest pub. It was a modest building with a plain, brown door.

There was a large sign above the door, titled "GRILLBY'S."

"Say, you mentioned that your subjects arrived around the same time you did, right?"

Asgore nodded.

"Well, then… they're fast workers. Looks like the owner managed to get set up overnight. That's fairly impressive." Sarah hummed, slowly opening the door and stepping inside.

Asgore noticed a sign that was slightly off to the side. Upon reading it, his eyes widened, and he quickly rushed in after the woman.

* * *

Blinking her eyes to adjust to the artificial lighting, Sarah made a motion to greet the local patrons, but then she stopped.

The room had gone silent when she had walked in.

There was an assorted collection of monsters present.

A pair of monsters known as Ugly Fish and Red Bird were sitting at the bar.

There were two booths present, and each was occupied by a monster. One was a toothy creature named Big Mouth, and the other was drunk bunny named… Drunk Bun.

There was a Punk Hamster with shades, who was leaning by the jukebox.

Grillby was conducting his business behind the bar, as usual.

All six monsters were staring at Sarah, and she felt a familiar pang of discomfort.

"You shouldn't be here, you know." said Big Mouth.

"Yeah, we don't want any trouble from your kiiiiiind." said Drunk Bun.

Confused, Sarah turned to the other monsters, only to be met with more disdainful looks.

"Didn't you hear? Someone found the dusty armor of the Snowdin Canine Unit inside a nightclub." said Punk Hamster.

"I heard that it was a human's fault. It wouldn't surprise me, honestly." said Ugly Fish.

Wincing, Sarah opened her mouth to speak up.

"Hm? Is something the matter, human?" said Big Mouth. "Don't tell me that you don't know what your kind have done-"

Red Bird interrupted with a cough, and as the other monsters turned to look at them, Sarah felt the urge to walk away before violence inevitably broke out… as it usually did in situations such as this.

The bird monster opened their beak and then shut it, turning to Grillby in annoyance.

Seeing that his usual translator seem to have a difference of opinion, Grillby cleared his throat.

"Heard… wasn't… human. Was… monster. Wendigo… responsible."

The pessimistic part of Sarah's mind silently prayed to her ancestors, for being swallowed up by a Void fissure would have been less embarrassing than admitting to the shame of knowing exactly who the fire elemental was talking about.

"Don't be stupid, Grillby! Of course it was a human who killed the dogs! Who else could have done it!? I mean, think about it! You're talking about some sort of mythical monster that we've never even seen! A giant monster with a bottomless appetite who speaks in growls, who eats monsters when there are no humans around? Hah! Don't make me laugh! That's just a kid's story and you know it." said Red Bird, gesturing wildly.

"I… she's not-"

"Sheeeeeeee?" said Drunk Bun, causing Sarah to falter.

Upon seeing the woman take a few steps backward, Ugly Fish snorted.

"That's right. Humans run at the first sign of trouble, don't they? But seeing it in person… well, it make me feel glad that our assumptions were correct, right, guys?" they asked, causing all of the other monsters aside from Grillby to nod in agreement.

Sarah felt her fists clenching… so she immediately turned her back and attempted to walk outside, only to bump into Asgore.

Seeing the expression on her face, Asgore immediately stood aside and allowed her to pass.

Asgore would have followed the woman out of concern, but he was interrupted by the patrons.

"Heeeey, Asssssgoooooore." said Drunk Bun. "Was that dumb human giving you a haaaaaard tiiiiime?"

Asgore went still, not sure of what to say.

"Of course the human gave Asgore a hard time. Humans suck, remember? I wouldn't be surprised if it approached him because he looked pathetic." said Punk Hamster, adjusting his shades.

As silence filled the room, nobody bothered to point out that such a statement is usually followed by the phrase, 'no offense'… because that was how little they all thought of their king.

Good natured, but ultimately harmless, incapable of lifting his finger to hurt a fly.

Asgore knew it.

They knew it.

And Asgore had nothing to say about it.

* * *

Gritting her teeth, Sarah opened her mouth to scream in frustration, only to notice that two monsters of a more familiar species were hovering in front of her.

They were fairies. Small, winged, humanoids with pointed ears.

The members of the Fair Folk come in all shapes and sizes, but of the various forms that they can take, many of them tend to prefer humanoid forms, even if their powers and dispositions are anything but.

"Hey, human! Wanna see some of our famous pixie dust? It's really valuable!" the fairies giggled.

In response, Sarah held up her left hand and snapped her fingers, causing a small flame to appear above her fingertips.

The fairies recoiled in surprise.

"That's…. you… you're bluffing!"

Sarah narrowed her eyes.

"Okay, you're not bluffing. We'll… just… take our business… elsewhere." the fairies grunted, before heading inside the restaurant.

Sarah rolled her eyes and started walking down the road, only to stop when she realized that she had forgotten something.

For starters, she suddenly realized that she didn't remember asking for the names of the newly-arrived monsters. She has just met them, after all.

Second… isn't fairy dust extremely flammable-

BOOM.

Ah. That was correct. Fairy dust is flammable. It is also a very effective eye irritant, so the Fair Folk rely upon it whenever they need to make a quick getaway. It is also highly explosive to boot. The knowledge had slipped her mind for a moment.

Sarah began to worry about the possibility of serious injuries, but then she remembered that fire elementals and Boss Monsters had an affinity for fire, just as she did.

That was certainly a good thing.

Such is the benefit of forcing oneself to think like an optimist.


	12. Papyrus And Alphys Talk About Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two monsters have a chat about life.

Looking downwards upon a small bench, Papyrus tried to think of the best thing he could do in the situation he had found himself in.

"GREETINGS, DOCTOR ALPHYS!" said the skeleton.

The lizard monster said nothing, as she continued to stare off into the distance while curled up in the fetal position.

"I SEE THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY ENJOYING THE NICE WEATHER. I, PERSONALLY, HAVE COME TO THE REALIZATION THAT THE HOT SUNLIGHT UPON MY HANDSOME FACE FEELS QUITE WONDERFUL."

Alphys said nothing.

"ALMOST AS WONDERFUL AS NOT HAVING TO PUT UP WITH SANS'S OVERUSED AND UNORIGINAL SKELETON PUNS. NYEH, HEH, HEH!"

Alphys continued to say nothing.

"…HEH?"

Hm. It appeared as though Papyrus's usual comic relief routine wasn't working properly for some reason.

Which was odd. After all, this was usually the point where people would laugh at Papyrus's silly antics.

It's almost as if the designated comic relief character… was no longer funny.

But if the comic relief character can't make people laugh, then what other purpose could they possibly have in such a story?

Mulling over everything that had happened since the Barrier had been broken, Papyrus decided to try something else.

"DOCTOR ALPHYS? ARE YOU… FEELING ALRIGHT?"

Noticing that Papyrus's tone had changed, Alphys stopped muttering and thought about how to respond.

Taking a deep breath before exhaling, Alphys shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, I'm doing okay, Papyrus. Everything is fine, so I'm fine. It's all just… fine." Alphys giggled.

Translation: I'm not fine. Everything is not fine. I am freaking out right now, but I don't want to talk about it. The last several hours have been a crazy nightmare, and I can't deal with your shenanigans right now. So, can you take the hint and let me wallow in silence? Please?

"I SEE… DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT? I FIND THAT MY WORRIES TEND TO SEEMINGLY VANISH WHENEVER I SPEND SEVERAL MINUTES TALKING ABOUT WHATEVER ISSUES ARE PLAGUING ME."

"Uh… sure?"

Translation: I can see that you didn't take my hint. I want to call you out for ignoring what I was implying, but that would be rude. So, I'm going to play along in hopes that you will get bored and leave me alone.

"GREAT! I HAVE PLENTY OF THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT, SUCH AS ALL OF THE NICE PEOPLE WE HAVE MET SO FAR-"

"Oh, goddamn it, Papyrus! Can you please shut up! Just shut up! Shut up, Shut up! Shut up! For crying out looooooooooooud!" Alphys screamed.

Translation: $&#%@$! ^&*@%^#! &$^%^!!!

* * *

As the two monsters sat quietly on the bench, Papyrus slowly realized that he had stumbled across a problem that he didn't know how to solve.

Normally, Papyrus would insist that any problem could be solved with some kind words and a big hug. But deep down, he was beginning to wonder if he was just fooling himself into thinking that the world was an inherently good place with inherently good people.

He had even tried to use that method on Alphys just a few moments ago, and she had given him several scratch lines on his cranium for his trouble, hence why they were now both sitting in silence.

After sighing, Alphys spoke up.

"Papyrus… I know we aren't that close, and this is kind of a rude thing to ask, but I don't care anymore. So… here goes. Is your innocent Cinnamon Roll act just an act, or are you really that blind to what's been going on here?"

* * *

From this moment onward, there is a question that needs to be answered in regards to the nature of Papyrus the Skeleton.

With all of the drama and controversy surrounding the final boss of the Genocide Route, it's easy to forget that Papyrus has quite a few secrets in his closet. I would say skeletons, but that's the sort of lazy pun that Papyrus dislikes, and I'm inclined to agree with him.

For starters, he's aware of what happens when Sans pranks Frisk across time and space. It's a short gag, but it's there.

He's regarded as a kindhearted simpleton, but he is willing to beat up a small child and lock them in a shed. He doesn't kill, but he is willing to harm. He also has a special attack that can blast things away, and he's not completely adverse to the thought of using it against Frisk.

He knows that Undyne wants to murder Frisk, so what does he do? He deliberately turns a blind eye to Frisk's plight, even though it can end with the death of one or both of his friends. Is that the mindset of a true friend? I certainly don't think so.

So, is Papyrus an innocent Cinnamon Roll, or is he simply a selfish fool who ignores the bad things in the world so he can pretend as if everyone is inherently good?

It's too early to say for certain, but there's no rush to figure it out.

We have plenty of time.

* * *

"I… WHATEVER DO YOU MEAN, DOCTOR ALPHYS?"

Alphys glared at Papyrus.

"I'm talking about the people who were murdered right in front of us, thanks to that terrifying woman with the ice magic!"

Papyrus fidgeted.

"And I know you that you know what the word 'murder' means, so why are you trying so hard to play dumb?"

Scratching his chin, Papyrus did his best to think of an appropriate answer.

"I… WELL… IT'S BECAUSE… I… I THINK THAT… PEOPLE CAN BE… GOOD… IF..." Papyrus trailed off.

Translation: I KNOW THAT WHAT SHE DID WAS HORRIBLE, AND I BELIEVE THAT IT WAS BOTH CRUEL AND UNNECESSARY. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY SHE DID IT… BUT I'M HOPING THAT IF I KEEP SMILING AND ENCOURAGING OTHER PEOPLE TO BE NICER TO EACH OTHER, THEN SHE WILL IMPROVE AS A PERSON. BECAUSE I WANT TO BELIEVE THAT ANYONE CAN BE GOOD, IF THEY SINCERELY TRY.

Alphys took a long look at Papyrus's wide smile, and she huffed.

"I see."

Translation: I see.

As the two monsters fell silent once more, Papyrus tried to think of something else to do, and failed miserably.

And then, something curious happened.

Papyrus reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card.

Looking at the card, Alphys noted that it gave the contact information for the mayor of the city.

Papyrus wasn't sure where the card had come from. Alphys had an idea, but she kept her speculation to herself.

On the flip side, there was a small handwritten note, asking for Alphys to use the number if she was interested in a job that suited her... unique talents.

The two monsters had been wandering around without a purpose, and Alphys wanted to change that.

Papyrus's goal was to join the Royal Guard, and that goal had been dashed to pieces.

Alphys was the Royal Scientist, and now she was practically a nobody who had created horrific abominations with no lasting repercussions.

So, with no plans for the future in mind (aside from living as a recluse and binge-watching anime), Alphys considered calling the number out of curiosity.

And thus, the story continued... as planned.

* * *

Now, we all know that calling strange phone numbers is a questionable thing to do, regardless of what the situation is.

If a situation is too good to be true, than it usually is.

But… there's this funny little thing called narrative causality.

causality

It's the driving force behind every story, because there are elements that must be present in a story, otherwise there is no story.

In a story about idealism, the heroes always win after facing their darkest hour… not through brute force, but by believing in the power of friendship. The archeplot reigns supreme.

In a story about tragedy, the hero makes one tiny mistake, and any and all attempts to correct this mistake are doomed to fail. The antiplot reigns supreme.

In a story about harems, tsunderes beat up men and boys without repercussions… because otakus love tsunderes.

In a story about horror, the villains and monsters can cheat and bend the laws of reality… as long as they get their victim in the end.

The underdogs never lose… because the people who came before them had to die gruesomely just to set the stakes.

The world goes out of the way to torture its hero after refusing to let them refuse their call… and the hero has to suck it up without voicing a single complaint.

Logic and pragmatism are deemed to be bad… while Japanese spirit and the shonen mindset always works.

Every fantasy kingdom has bigoted nobles and downtrodden demi-humans… because every fantasy story indulges itself in obnoxious rants about the evils of racism.

The evil empire is always corrupt… to justify why the oppressors can't stop the ragtag bunch of misfits.

The evil overlord never shoots the heroes… because that would end the conflict too early.

The Big Bad is invincible… but they always make a stupid mistake at the last second because they would never lose if they didn't.

The million-to-one chance will always work… while tempting fate ends in a quick death.

Genre savviness, genre blindness, wrong genre savviness, contractual genre blindness, functional genre savviness, death by genre savviness …dangerously genre savviness?

What's the point of lampshade hanging if it doesn't do anything to change the final outcome?

Such is the nature of a narrative.

I know it, and you know it. We all know it.

It seems as if the characters of the multiverse will forever be cursed to repeat the same narratives over and over, because that is how stories are meant to be written. To break away from themes and archetypes entirely… would invite the risk of creating Mary Sues and Marty Stus. Which in turn, invites scorn and ridicule from caustic critics who think that they alone can define the nature of 'good writing' and 'true art.'

But if such traditional narratives of archeplot and antiplot have become so tiresome, why not make up your own?

There are a few stories where traditional conflicts aren't the focus.

The world could always use more tales of Iyashikei and slice of life.

Perhaps a miniplot could change things for the better…


	13. Why Sans Would Realistically Suck At Being Empathetic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans tries out sunbathing.

It was a beautiful day in Riverview City.

Birds were singing, flowers were blooming… and the weather was perfect for a game of catch.

So of course, Sans had chosen to take advantage of the sunny weather… by sitting back, being lazy, and doing nothing.

As usual.

And he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Because that's who Sans is.

And you can't take that away from him without getting rid of what makes Sans… Sans.

We all know it… but an alarming amount of people have chosen to see that as a good thing and not a bad thing.

But why?

Why would people instinctively find themselves drawn towards a nihilistic, apathetic, patronizing, self-proclaimed slacker?

It's certainly not because of his (lack of) equipment, for starters. Thank you for that, creators of the Ecto-Genitalia tag…

But to certain individuals in the community, I would like to ask something simple.

Why do you love Sans, even after everything he's said and done?

* * *

Leaning back against a borrowed lounge chair, Sans took a deep breath as he felt the Sun's warm rays upon his exposed zygomatic bones.

The skeleton had a fresh bottle of ketchup in his jacket pocket, and he had a nearby bag of fast food on the roof of the mayor's building.

The Barrier was still gone, and his responsibilities had come to an end.

He had nothing to do, and there was nothing to worry about.

He was in paradise.

But as Sans continued to enjoy his self-assigned vacation, he began to feel something.

"…eh?"

Unease? Tension? Confusion?

"uh…"

Guilt? Fear? Turmoil?

"hey, wait a second-"

Regret? Shame? Self-loathing-

"ahem."

Hm?

"would you mind? i'm trying to get some beauty rest, here."

Beauty rest? You can't expect me to not comment on how stupid you sound.

"hey. buddy. i'm not responsible for the script."

Hmph. And I suppose that you weren't responsible for your questionable actions in the Underground, either?

"of course. i'm a fictional character from an indie RPG."

Is that your only excuse for turning a blind eye to everything in life?

"yup."

Frisk has suffered greatly because of your choices.

"eh."

Thanks to all of the timeline shenanigans, you brother has died an infinite number of times.

"meh."

And despite all of your power and knowledge, you deliberately refuse to use your resources… because you believe that everything in your life is out of control?

"hey, it's not just something i believe, mister mayor. my life is completely outside of my control. i have to live with the knowledge that a capricious human child could suddenly choose to reset the timeline, yanking my friends and my brother back into that hellish mountain."

I disagree.

"you know, you really should learn to show some more social empathy-"

You first.

"huh?"

I insist.

"what the heck are you talking about-"

You know, I've put a lot of time and though into figuring out what kind of person your really are.

"welp, you're looking for secrets where there aren't any. i'm just an easygoing, humerus, pun-loving skeleton who just happens to have a part-time gig as a sad clown and a cosmic nihilist, just like the old man with the portal gun and the naked guy with the blue skin."

Leave those two out of this. They were never meant to be role models. In fact, the fact that you even brought them up means that you're more than a little aware of own dickishness. It's almost as if…

"as if what?"

It's almost as if you know that your nihilistic values are wrong, but you pretend as if though they aren't because that's enough to fool all of your loyal fans. You've said that you care about your brother and Frisk, but you wouldn't raise a fingerbone to help either one of them when it really mattered.

"again, the resets are a thing. my actions won't matter in the long run, so why should i give a shit when it's outta my hands?"

Because you seem to give a shit about other things, such as obnoxious pranks, unfunny puns, death threats directed at children, and long rants about why existence is a lie and how you're the only person who's smart enough to understand that.

"you made that last part up."

Oh really, Mister 'you can't understand how this feels?'

* * *

Sans said nothing.

Instead, he reached down and pulled out a hot burger that was tightly wrapped.

Tearing the wrapper away and tossing it to the side, Sans took a big bite of burger bun and thick beef.

Savoring the grease in his mouth as the rest of it dribbled down his chin and into the fabric of his hoodie, Sans noted that human fast food was even greasier than the burgers from Grillby's… much to his pleasure.

After chewing twice, Sans swallowed, allowing his unique digestion to take care of the rest.

Exhaling, Sans leaned back again, content with spending the rest of his life in this timeline as a lazy bum.

But that's not how his story ends, for if a small child's flaws can be judged that harshly by the world, then this lazy skeleton is far overdue for a reality check.

"yawn. it's not my problem. the kid's fine, i'm fine, and everything else is fine. there aren't any more problems to fix, so i'd rather just let the story end here."

Sans suddenly heard the sound of soft pads swishing across the roof, before coming to a stop.

"Sans… did you just imply that my woes are nothing to be concerned about?" said Toriel, who was now looming above the disingenuous skeleton.

* * *

Sans keep his eyes shut.

Slowly, he felt himself being lifted into the air by a pair of fur-covered hands.

"Sans, I am not in the mood for your dissimulation."

Sans said nothing in response, causing Toriel to roughly shake him.

"Do you know what I have learned over the course of previous evening?" She growled.

No response.

Toriel tried to work up the energy to yell at Sans.

But upon seeing her friend's serene, yet duplicitous smile, Toriel felt her rage ebbing slightly.

"Sans… my children are dead. They have been dead for a very long time."

Silence.

"All this time, I have told myself that Asgore was responsible for every misfortune that has occurred in my life. None of it would have happened if my ex-husband had not been such a cowardly fool."

Still nothing.

"Sans… was I a bad mother?"

Sans said nothing, keeping his thoughts to himself.

"Sans… please."

"heh… look at this way… at least you finally stopped using Fluffybuns as a scapegoat, am i right?"

Toriel looked down at Sans, meeting his pinpricks of light with a steely gaze.

"Was that supposed to be funny?"

Sans faltered, because Toriel hadn't burst into laughter this time.

"Looking back, I suppose I never asked myself why everything you said came across as a flippant joke. I told myself that it was merely a persona you used to entertain a foolish old lady behind a stone door. You casually dismissed all of the day to day struggles in our separate lives, as if there was nothing that either of us had to worry about."

Toriel's arms began to tremble.

"I believed that you were truly caring and empathetic, deep down. I told myself that your terrible humor was simply a mask for your true self."

Tears began to mat white fur, and Sans had nothing to say. No words of compassion, and no bad jokes, either.

"If you are truly empathic, and if you can truly find it within yourself to care about the suffering of the people around you, I need to know."

Toriel took a laborious breath.

"Because my child died of buttercup poisoning, and my other child died because he refused to fight back against a village of violent humans. Does that not make you feel something? Anything?"

Sans thought about for a moment, and then shrugged.

"i can see how that might suck for you… but the truth is… it's not my problem, so i can't bring myself to care about your dead kids. because i can't bring myself to care about anything or anyone when i know that our happy ending can vanish with the press of a damn button… i'd like to say i'm sorry for your lost, but that would be dishonest."

Toriel went limp.

"hey, don't give me that look. the author made me say it."


	14. A True Heroine With Nothing To Fight For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne and Frisk talk while enjoying the beach.

Undyne found herself submerged at the bottom of a small lake.

Allowing her gills to filter oxygen from the water, Undyne realized that she was trembling.

Her broken wrist was still aching.

Her chest felt sore, and the blow to her eye hadn't been fun.

Clenching her left hand, Undyne felt the overwhelming urge to punch someone.

Shaking her head, Undyne pushed off the soft sand and swam upwards.

* * *

"God… damn… it!" Undyne sputtered.

Frisk turned their head to look at the fish woman, who was dragging herself onto the sand-filled expanse of the local beach.

"Hey, Undyne." Frisk called out in greeting.

Undyne turned her head to stare at Frisk.

"Frisk? What the heck are you doing here?" asked Undyne.

"This is the local beach, so the answer should be obvious. The real question is, what are you doing here?" Frisk replied.

"I…" Undyne paused, trying to recall how she had wound up at the bottom of the lake.

As Undyne grinded her teeth in frustration, Frisk considered how to handle her.

This was the so-called heroine who had relentlessly tried to murder them without sincerely apologizing for her behavior.

"That douchebag PUNCHED me!" Undyne yelled.

"You'll have to be more specific."

Undyne twitched.

"'Douchebag' could refer to any number of people, like Sans, Toriel, Alphys, Papyrus, Asgore, Flowe-"

"I'm talking about the old coot with that stupid sneer!" Undyne screamed.

"Who, the mayor?"

"Yes!"

"The man with the glasses, the wolf ears and the suit?"

"YES!"

"The man who happens to be a close friend of my mother?"

"YESSSS! … Wait, what? Really?" Undyne paused.

Frisk nodded.

Undyne scratched her chin while looking upwards, considering what she had just heard.

"You have a mom?"

"Yes. I suppose that would be a shock for you, since there was never a possibility of talking about that back in the Underground, but-"

"Huh. Well… then she's friends with a douchebag!"

"How so?"

"He punched me and he shoved me into some sort of swirly thing that dumped me here."

"Hm. Do you have any idea why he did that?"

"I… uhhhh…"

As Undyne hesitated, Frisk gave the fish monster an odd look.

"Hey, Frisk?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think there's something… off?"

"Again, you'll have to be more specific."

"Arrrrgh, you know what I mean!"

"Actually, no. I don't. Do I look like a mind reader to you?"

"Well…"

"Seriously?"

"You were able to dodge all of my attacks without breaking a sweat!" Undyne pointed out. "In fact, there were times when the stuff you did felt… uncanny."

"Explain."

"I.. don't know HOW I'm supposed to say it, but…"

"Try me."

"It's like you always know what people are going to say or do. It feels like every time we've spoken, you've always had that look on your face. You know? That annoying, beady-eyed stare that makes you look like a know-it-all?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Frisk grunted.

The small child rolled their eyes, and Undyne suddenly pointed at them.

"SEE! Right there! That's EXACTLY what I'm talking about! You did it again!"

"Undyne, all I did was grunt. Are you feeling alright?"

Undyne slumped at that, opting to plop down on the sandy beach with her knees in a hug and her face in a pout.

* * *

A few minutes later, Frisk sighed and took a deep breath.

"You have no idea what to do now, do you?"

Undyne said nothing.

"Undyne?"

Still nothing.

"Undyne!"

As Undyne slowly turned her head to give Frisk the evil eye, Frisk quietly noted the sound of her creaking neck.

"WHAT?"

"Do you need help?"

"WITH. WHAT?"

"Well, let's see. You currently have a broken right hand, a sore chest, a bruised eye, no house, no job, and no career prospects… so… anything, really. You look like you might need a hand with figuring your shit out."

"Did you just use the s-word? Kids aren't supposed to say shi… stuff like that!"

"Kids shouldn't be forced to fight battles for and against adults, and yet here we are."

Frisk suddenly threw their hands up, and Undyne got the message.

She did not care for it in the slightest.

"Are you still salty over that time we fought each other to the death? Dude, that was all in the past! We even had an EPIC friendship hangout and all that crap!"

"No, YOU had a hangout. I had to sit there and listen as you monologued about Papyrus and Asgore and your dumb childhood for fifteen minutes."

Undyne balked at that.

"What the hell? Frisk, do you talk to your mom like that!?"

"No, because she's actually a reasonable person who isn't a huge bitch and massive hypocrite, unlike you."

"I... that's… she… you…" Undyne twitched.

As Undyne sputtered, her eyes began to dart around, sincerely questioning if she was the target of a prank.

Wait, hold on…

"Hm?"

I need to check something. One moment, please.

"Sure, take your time. It's not like we were in the middle of something important."

* * *

Ahem.

As Undyne sputtered, her eye began to dart around, sincerely questioning if she was the target of some cruel prank.

"Mind if I ask a quick question?"

You might not get a quick answer.

"When you stopped narrating, Undyne spent the last ten minutes searching the beach for hidden cameras, like the ones that Alphys set up to spy on me. Honestly, we have nothing but time at this point."

Aren't you worried about saying that within earshot?

"No, not really, given how she's even denser than Papyrus."

Very well… I needed to check the Undertale wiki. I've been mulling over the subject of character flaws, and then I remembered that when her battle with you drags on long enough, the flavor text specifically mentions that she starts to believe that it must be a prank… otherwise, how else would a small human child be able to keep up with someone as awesome as her in a 'fair fight?'

"Sir, could you please refrain from bringing that up? I'm still not happy about all those times she killed me while screaming about the power of shonen anime."

Normally... I would brush that off, but since you're the one asking, I'll keep that in mind.

"Thank you, sir."

* * *

"Hey, Undyne!"

Undyne stopped searching for the presence of hidden cameras.

"Why are you looking for cameras?"

"Because this is a god-damned PRANK, that's what! Somebody's trying to make fun of me and I HATE IT! I can't heroically punch a bad guy in the face if I can't see where they're hiding!"

"Right. I see. That makes perfect sense. Carry on."

As Frisk began to walk away, they began to speak out loud to no one in particular.

"There are plenty of strange happenstances that happen in stories.

I could talk about how there's nobody on this beach except Undyne and I.

If there were more people here, they would be off to the side, not doing anything important in particular because the very existence of a narrative implies that some people just happen to be more important than others.

I could talk about how Undyne's been acting odd ever since we transitioned from an overrated indie game to a dumb fanfic.

I could talk about how my mother's friend had a scene planned out where Undyne got mad at me for some dumb reason and attacked me with her spears again, so that Auntie Lucia would have an excuse to beat up Undyne again-"

"Why would I need an excuse?"

Suddenly, Frisk heard a loud thud.

Calmly turning around, Frisk tilted their head at the wendigo lady in question.

Upon seeing the small child, Lucia practically beamed.

"Heeeey, Frisky! How's my little sofralia doing on this fine afternoon?" she said, quickly rushing over and embracing them in a big hug.

"Hello, Auntie." said Frisk.

As the two individuals hugged while ignoring the unconscious fish monster who was now lying face-down in the sand, Frisk realized that they couldn't think of anything to say or do.

"You know, people are saying that this story sucks."

Do I need to fall back on the overused phrase, 'Don't like, don't read?'

"Sure, but how do you know if you like something or not if you never stop to see what the fuss is all about out?"

Exactly. Hence my current frustrations. In case you haven't noticed, recent discussions and events have put me in a mood.

"We noticed."

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Lucia broke the hug and stood up, looking down at Frisk.

"So, what's it to be, little sofralia?"

"Hm?"

"Do you want me to get rid of Undyne for you?"

"I…"

"Undyne's the only one who doesn't know where we all stand on this, so I won't bother with silly explanations and justifications. It's your call."

Frisk pondered it a moment, but then they huffed.

"No… because even I know that repeat performances aren't special. I'm satisfied now."

Lucia nodded.

"Not a bad answer. So, do you want to try my shaved ice again? I've got a new recipe with honey and milk."

"Sure. And I suppose that you're going to cajole Undyne into eating it even though she hates cold food?"

"That's the spirit! Slapstick's always funny… and every comedy needs an Elmer Fudd, after all."

And so, the two odd bedfellows set out in search of shaved ice, with the unconscious fish monster in tow.

All was well… for now.


	15. From One Adorkable Loser to A...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys has an interesting conversation with a fellow introvert.

"Greetings, Doctor Alphys." said the woman who was sitting behind the receptionist's desk.

"O-oh, uh, h-hiya? … Wait, how did you… know my name?" Alphys asked.

The human stopped typing at her computer to give Alphys a blank look.

"Your yellow scales and unwashed lab coat made it obvious. Also, there's nobody here right now except for you and me, not to mention that my employer anticipated that you would arrive at a convenient moment for him." said the human.

Fidgeting slightly, Alphys suddenly became acutely aware of three things.

First, everything that the human had just said was rather true.

Second, the events that had happened between speaking with Papyrus and arriving at the mayor's dwelling were now quite foggy.

And thirdly… her choice to inquire after that business card might have been a mistake.

"Doctor Alphys?" the receptionist called out, patiently waiting for a reply.

"H-huh?" Alphys looked up. "U-uh…"

Alphys couldn't quite find the words to express how she felt, so she clammed up.

The two women stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity… but in reality, it was merely sixty-nine seconds.

A laugh escaped from Alphys's mouth as she coughed.

Then, she deliberately coughed a few more times.

The receptionist blinked.

Alphys began to blush.

The scientist looked for a way to change the subject.

"U-um… Miss?"

"Yes?"

Fidgeting some more, Alphys couldn't help but question something odd about the human's attire.

"Your name tag. It says… 'The receptionist?'"

The receptionist looked down for a moment.

"Yes, indeed it does."

"…Why?"

"Because… bit character."

Alphys blinked twice.

"I.. have no idea what that's supposed to mean."

"I know… and I don't blame you. I don't know if anybody understands anything anymore. I mean, think about it. We're all told that if you work hard and believe in yourself, then everything is guaranteed to turn out fine. But it's pretty obvious that things don't work out for everyone and that's why we have grim-derp, soul-crushing tragedies. And if that's true, then what's the point of investing in anything when your happy ending can easily be yanked away from you at any moment because a creator in the multiverse decided to be a nihilistic, obnoxious douchebag for no reason? And if…"

As the receptionist continued to monologue, Alphys found that she was short of breath.

Her hands felt clammy, and she felt a painful throbbing in her forehead.

She opened her mouth to scream-

* * *

Opening her eyes, Alphys was greeted with the sight of a large, blue planet with some scattered continents and cloud contrails.

Sitting up, she noticed that she was surrounded by a rocky landscape that was both barren and gray.

The sky was black, and there were no stars.

Everything was quiet… aside from the music.

Lonely violin notes, plus the vocals of a talented female singer.

The piece in question was a cover of 'Don't Think Twice,' by AmaLee and Taylor Davis.

There was no way for Alphys to know this specific detail, of course.

She did like the lyrics, though.

Very catchy.

Alphys found that amusing, in a rather surreal manner.

Music.

In space.

On the Moon.

Plus oxygen.

Oxygen?

Alphys took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and then exhaled with a sigh of relief.

Definitely oxygen.

In space.

On the Moon.

Good to know.

But that still didn't answer the question of how she ended up on the Moon in the first place-

"A mayor did it." came a grunt.

Alphys shrieked, nearly tripping over the mayor of Riverview City, who was looking up at the Earth while sitting with his legs crossed.

His smartphone was playing the music from earlier, but he decided to turn the volume down.

It would be repetitive to go over the mayor's appearance again, so the words would be better spent on other matters.

This would be an appropriate time for an exposition dump, but we all know that exposition is boring, so let's skip over it.

* * *

"Did you understand all of that?" Kenneth asked.

"Uhh…. n-not… really? It kinda feels like you just said a b-bunch of stuff without conveying anything meaningful." Alphys quietly replied.

"Well, it's a literary paradox. If an author tries to have the characters explains things that they should already know about in-universe, then it becomes irritating for the audience whenever it involves the overused phrase, 'as you know.' But on the other hand, if the author tries to avoid providing any exposition at all, then that's also irritating."

"Uh…"

Alphys wasn't quite sure of what Kenneth was taking about, but it seemed rather important to him.

"Do you have any thoughts on the matter, Alphys?"

"Umm… well… maybe you could try providing… exposition? …In a more tasteful way? I think that's what you were asking, r-right?" the lizard replied, chuckling nervously.

The werewolf lowered his head and looked away.

"Mister Livingston?" Alphys inquired, feeling a strange sense of… familiarity?

"Define tasteful."

Alphys perked up at that, excited by the prospect of being viewed as helpful and intelligent.

"Oh, I know that one! The definition of tasteful is… 'showing good aesthetic judgment or appropriate behavior.'"

Alphys faltered when Kenneth looked back at her.

"I-I mean… I -mean… uh… I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"No, that's the right definition." Kenneth reassured, startling the younger monster. "It's just that… definitions don't make it easier to handle the drudgery of everyday life."

Alphys fell silent, sensing that it was appropriate… in her eyes, at least.

"I mean, the meaning of 'good judgement' varies wildly depending on who you're asking. And the same goes for 'appropriate behavior,' because a joke that one person finds funny can easily end up triggering the person next to them! And then you have a clusterfuck of angry, screeching lunatics who can't be reasoned with because they don't even want to be reasoned with!"

Alphys wasn't quite sure if she understood the context of the word, 'triggering,' but she decided to take a stab at it.

"Um… wouldn't it be better to… not? Get involved with those people? They sound really unpleasant to handle. I try to keep away from people like that and focus on happier things, like… um… the first and only season of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie?"

"Hm. I suppose that's one option. Just ignore all of the bad things in life to focus on all of the good things you enjoy. That's enough for most people… but…"

"'But?' Why would there be a 'but?' If there's a situation that you can't fix, then you don't have to torture yourself by dwelling on it all the time!"

"That's easier said than done. You of all people should know that."

Alphys shuddered as a chill went down her spine.

"It's true that with time and practice, it's more than possible to change your habits in a positive manner. That's why introverts can pass themselves off as extroverts because it's an important life skill. But some successful individuals make it look so effortless… hmph. Obnoxious pricks, the lot of them. They always fall back on that ironic, self-deprecating high school speech about the woes of procrastination. It's the same exact speech. Every… damn… time."

Alphys twiddled her claws.

"And after hundreds of nihilistic tales that do nothing but attack the very concept of escapism, it's become more tempting than ever before. It's because people dream about having the power to make the world a better place. Because the real world is a horrendous, soul-crushing hellhole full of screeching activists, outrageous double standards and the sea of hypocrisy that pre-emptively protects itself from any and all valid criticism under the guise of 'tolerance' and 'political correctness.'"

Kenneth took a deep breath.

"No one is invalidated, but nobody is right. That's why I prefer to keep my head down and keep myself busy with hard work. It doesn't matter what the goal is, because coming up with goals was always the tricky part. I suppose that's what happens when working hard is the only thing that matters to the people you constantly have to appease in order to 'fit in' and be a more 'productive' member of society."

The two monsters shared a look.

"But… that can't be the only way to live. That sounds so miserable…" Alphys shook her head.

"It's better than being a lazy, pretentious douchebag like Sans, wouldn't you say?" the werewolf retorted, tapping his right thigh with his index finger. "Some of us actually believe that we have the right to exercise free will without being chided by an infinitely large horde of cosmic nihilists."

Alphys had no response for that.

"And in the end… I suppose that's my wish fulfillment. To live in a world where people are allowed to reap the benefits of hard work with no strings attached. A world where it really is possible to earn your happy ending without being forced to let people take it away from you because you're supposed to be the 'hero' of a tragedy."

Looking up at the bright blue planet, the werewolf smiled.

"That's the world I want to see."

As the strange mayor took his time with conjuring up the portal that led back home, Alphys couldn't help but dwell on what had been discussed.

Sure, his words were rather dismal and unsettling… but…

They made feel… calm.

Calm?

A world where things will work out for you if you learn to mind your own business?

A world that won't judge you for wanting to stay home and binge-watch anime all the time?

Yes… that did sound rather nice.


	16. Undyne Has Enough, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne desires power. Kenneth questions this.

"GIVE THEM TO ME." said Undyne, who had barged her way into Kenneth's office… again.

"Hm? Weren't you busy being dragged around for shaved ice by my friend and my… other friend's… child?" Kenneth asked.

"I ESCAPED."

"How?"

"NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS, YOU SMUG, CONDESCENDING, SELF-RIGHTEOUS PRICK." Undyne growled while panting heavily.

Kenneth lifted a finger and opened his mouth to retort… but then he lowered his finger while shutting his mouth.

Glancing to the side while humming and scratching his chin, Kenneth took a moment to think.

"You'll have to be more specific about what you want from me. I'm assuming you're not here for a job."

"The heck… NO! I'm here for the human souls!" Undyne exclaimed.

"Ah, I see. Thank you for the clarification."

"Uh… what?"

"You're a moron."

"EHHHHH?" Undyne recoiled.

"Did you really think you could just barge in here and demand to have godlike power?" Kenneth remarked.

Undyne hesitated… before scowling.

"YES."

"I see. And why do you need power?"

"So I can kill the wendigo bitch." the fish woman hissed.

"Let me get this straight. You… want me… to give you… the precious human souls… that allow our society to function… just so you can kill one of my two close friends?"

"GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?"

"Nope."

"OF COURSE YOU WOULD SAY THAT… wait… really?" Undyne blinked.

"Sure."

Undyne took a few steps back, for that wasn't the answer she was expecting.

"Is this another prank or something?"

Undyne glanced around for hidden cameras… again.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because people have been pranking me since I came to this HORRIBLE city!"

"Hm…"

"What's with that smug look? Are you calling me a LIAR or something?"

"Well, the only person who's tricked you so far was Lucia. Have I ever lied to you since our first encounter?" asked Kenneth, tapping his fingers against his desk.

"Uh…?"

"No, of course not. Partly because that first conversation was offscreen, but that's not the point. The point is… you can trust me to mean what I say."

Undyne tilted her head, not sure what to make of that claim.

The werewolf was starting to remind her of those manipulative villains in her favorite shonen animes, the ones who tend to make dramatic speeches with phrases such as 'the world must be purified' or 'what is evil' and stuff like that.

"Undyne, pay attention!" Kenneth barked.

Undyne shook her head in annoyance, smacking her palms against her head.

Her hands were trembling, and she felt a sudden burst of nervous energy.

"But honestly… why are you going to all of this trouble? Why not just put some distance between you and her instead of resorting to violence?" the man probed.

Undyne took a deep breath.

"Why would I NOT resort to violence? She hurt me! So I'm going to KILL her."

"I thought that you were against the use of violence because it's 'easy.' That's why you hate humans-"

"This is COMPLETELY different!" Undyne deflected. "She attacked me first, so it shouldn't be a problem if I kill her in self-defense…!?"

"Is that a statement or a question?"

"ARRRRGGGGHH!" Undyne whined, shaking her fists.

As Undyne began to pace across the room with loud stomps, Kenneth sighed.

"Tell you what… recent events have left me rather stressed. Would you kindly take this soul so I can have some peace and quiet?"

With a wave of his hand, a yellow soul appeared in the mayor's left palm…

And Undyne immediately touched it with her left hand without thinking, which is definitely something that she would do in a situation like this.

* * *

Standing outside the office, Alphys was attempting to make small talk with Gerson… which mostly involved nodding whenever the turtle monster wasn't rambling.

"And there she was, sitting on a bench, wrapped from fin-to-boot with gauze bandages like an Egyptian mummy! I couldn't just let her spend the whole afternoon feeling sorry for herself, now could I-"

Woosh.

Gerson trailed off, as the sound had reminded him of something that he had tried very hard to forget.

Alphys didn't know what that sound meant, but she had a sinking feeling that it wasn't good.

Gerson firmly grasped the doorknob and twisted it.

The door swung inwards, letting them into the room.

Within the room, the mayor calmly sat at his desk, fingers interlaced.

Below the mayor, Undyne's clothes were lying in a heap on the carpet.

They were stained with white, silvery liquid.

Because there was a silvery puddle that was staining the carpet.

"You really should have just left her to mope, Sir Gerson." said the mayor.

Alphys's eyes widened.

She opened her mouth to scream-

"Shush, shush, shush... Don't worry. Restoring her physical form isn't as difficult as you might think, given how science has progressed since the ancient times." Kenneth interrupted, standing up and tucking his chair in.

Alphys took a step back.

Gerson did not take a step back.

"Besides, look at it this way… Undyne can now obtain the power she needs to kill the wendigo… with some assistance from you, of course. Now how's that for a plot twist?"


	17. MTT And Science Stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mettaton discusses gossip with Bratty and Catty.
> 
> Gerson ponders what to do.
> 
> Undyne has an encounter within the depths of her soul.

Ahem.

As a familiar music track known as 'Live Report' to play from a ceiling-mounted television, the ghost monster inside a robotic body known as Mettaton… began to speak.

"OHHHHHH YESSS! GOOD AFTERNOON, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES OF RIVERVIEW CITY! I ASSUME THAT YOU ALL KNOW WHO I AM, BECAUSE WHY WOULDN'T YOU? BUT JUST IN CASE ANY NEWCOMERS IN MY AUDIENCE ARE EVEN THE TINIEST BIT CONFUSED, ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MY WONDERFUL SELF!"

The monster adjusted his tie.

"THIS IS METTATON, REPORTING LIVE FROM MTT NEWS! AS YOU ALL KNOW, INTERESTING EVENTS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING IN THIS WONDERFUL CITY, AND IF THERE IS ANYTHING I LOVE OTHER THAN MYSELF, IT'S THE ENJOYMENT THAT I DERIVE FROM SNOOPING INTO PRIVATE AFFAIRS AND BROADCASTING THE RESULTING TIBITS OF JUICY GOSSIP! AND WHO BETTER TO GET US STARTED THAN THESE LOVELY LADIES? SAY HELLO TO CATTY AND BRATTY!"

The two female monsters had been eager sitting across a small table on a small couch, but upon being address by their idol, they both beamed.

"I'm Bratty, and this is my best friend, Catty!" said Bratty.

"I'm Catty, and this is my best friend, Bratty!" said Catty. "We're being interviewed by Mettaton!"

"And Mettaton just signed my friend's butt!" said Bratty.

"But as much as we'd love to gush over my robot husband-" said Catty.

Bratty coughed.

"Sorry, OUR robot husband… we all know you're hear for some sweet, juicy gossip!" said Catty.

"Says you! I've already got a totally-not-fake marriage certificate-" said Bratty.

"LADIES, LADIES… I KNOW I'M THE UNDERGROUND'S MOST DESIRABLE BATCHELOR, BUT WE HAVE A BUSY SCHEDULE TO KEEP!"

As the three monsters began to chat about random and meaningless topics, some interesting titles began to scroll along the bottom of the screen.

MTT-BRAND STILL TOP-RATED (CURRENLY MAKING PREPARATIONS TO DEAL WITH ANY AND ALL COMPETITION)

LOCAL METTATON STILL VERY RICH, FAMOUS AND GORGEOUS

SNOWDIN CANINE UNIT COMPLETELY ANNIHILATED BY A MYSTERIOUS ASSAILANT, 'TOTALLY NOT A MONSTER'S HANDIWORK,' SAYS LOCAL GROUP OF 'POLITICALLY CORRECT' HUMANS

STRANGE FIGURES SEEN IN LOCAL WOODS

LOCAL BURGER RESTRAUNT DEMOLISHED BY MAGICAL EXPLOSTION, ARE HUMANS TO BLAME? YES, SAY ONE-HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT OF LOCAL MONSTERS

KING AND QUEEN APPEAR TO BE GOING THOUGH A ROUGH PATCH IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP, NOT HELPED BY RUMORS OF SEPARATE AFFAIRS

THAT'S RIGHT, OUR BELOVED QUEEN WAS LAST SEEN HAVING AN EMOTIONAL CONVERSATION WITH A SHORT, LAZY SKELETON WHO THINKS THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND HIM (TOTALLY NOT PROJECTING, BY THE WAY)

KING FLUFFYBUNS SEEN TRAILING AFTER SOME UNIMPORTANT HUMAN WOMAN LIKE A LOST PUPPY, HIGHLY UNUSUAL AND EXTREMELY SCANDALOUS

DOCTOR ALPHYS HAS RECENTLY TAKEN UP A MYSTERIOUS JOB OFFER WITH A STRANGE WEREWOLF WHO IS REPORTED TO BE 'TALL, DARK AND HANDSOME'… HOW SCANDALOUS, GIVEN THAT THE GOOD DOCTOR ALREADY HAS A GIRLFRIEND… NO OFFENSE UNDYNE, BUT YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER FINDING A LESS PROMISCIOUS GIRLFRIEND-

* * *

"Bastard."

Ignoring Alphys's mutterings, Gerson sighed.

After all that nasty business with Undyne's… Undyne in general… the old turtle had briefly hoped that everything that had happened was merely part of a fever dream.

Of course, that hope hadn't lasted long, just like the few good things that Gerson had experienced in his rather long life.

Bless you, Gertrude… may the Angel have mercy on your shrewish soul.

But putting those pessimistic thoughts aside, Gerson pondered if there anything he could actually do about the terrible situation he had found himself in.

After Undyne had… urk.

After Undyne had… melted… the mayor had scooped up the… liquid… and taken it away, but not before inviting the two of them to see how he would restore Undyne's body.

A modern miracle, he called it.

Hmph. He most likely wanted to add insult to injury, like a sadist.

Every fiber of Gerson's body was now screaming at him to pursue justice… but what good would that do?

The old turtle had no way to bring Undyne back to life by himself.

He could make an attempt to acquire a human soul of his own… but there was no chance of that ending well, no matter the outcome.

Gerson had a sinking feeling that the werewolf's pistol wasn't just for show.

That's what happens when an old man ignores his problems for far too long.

Looking in Alphys's direction, he noticed that she had curled up into a ball, muttering obscenities under her breath.

Gerson reached out to give her comfort… only to be interrupted by a shriek from the next room over.

You have one guess as to whose voice it was.

* * *

Undyne found herself walking along a narrow, rocky path.

All around her, there was nothing but a black abyss.

The path behind her was slowly swallowed up by darkness, so she had no choice but to wearily press on.

Not unlike a fictional captain who once walked into Dubai because he wanted to 'feel like a hero'… or some other stupid phrase used by a pretentious game developer.

In any case, Undyne tried to find a way out as she walked.

She called out into the abyss.

There was no response.

You all know what happens when people stare into the abyss, as noted by famous literary figure…

But this time, the abyss got annoyed and answered back in frustration.

"When it comes to monsters, y'all act like a bunch of god-damned hypocrites. Ain't that precious… you varmint."

Staring into the distance, Undyne saw a small human child with a cowboy hat and a toy gun.

"What the-"

BANG. BANG.

* * *

Upon entering the room, Gerson noticed four individuals.

The first was Kenneth's daughter, who was clutching a puncture wound in her abdomen. It was sizzling with the color of gold, and dust was trickling out.

Hovering over the young lass was the mayor's son, who was attempting to cancel out the Justice trait with his Integrity trait… with limited success.

The third was Kenneth, who was holding his left palm outstretched in order to maintain a Perseverance barrier that divided the room into two sections.

The barrier was visibly cracked, even as dozens of Justice spears were flying in all directions… originating from Undyne, who was flailing around while clutching her ruined, dust-leaking eye sockets, as she had already freed herself from her restraints though brute strength.

Kenneth's right hand twitched, but no pistol appear in his hand… yet.

"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK-"

"You have no one to blame but yourself, Undyne! It's hardly my fault that you don't have the proper acumen to harness the power of a human soul, you stupid bit-"

As the two monsters shouted at each other, Gerson tried to say something, but he couldn't find the words.

Gerson cursed the mayor for setting up this accursed situation.

Gerson cursed Undyne for not knowing when to leave well enough alone.

And Gerson cursed himself for being just as useless as his two old friends-

Squelch.

Gerson suddenly felt cold and numb.

Looking down, he saw a bright yellow spear that was protruding from his stomach.

The last thing that Gerson felt before losing consciousness… was a complicated bundle of emotions.

The spear looked impressive, at the very least.

He wouldn't have expected anything less from his honorary ward.

* * *

In another timeline, Gerson was absolutely sure that Undyne would be the one to strike down the genocidal child.

But we all know how that turned out.

And the child never forgot what the old turtle had said to them.


	18. Tragic Backstories and Tragic Backstories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys has a nice lunch with Frisk's mother.

A world on the brink of collapse.

A war fought for different reasons… but the result is all the same.

A savoir, a werewolf, and an impossible choice.

* * *

"Hey."

"O-oh! Um… u-uh… hiya, Frisk's mom… wait, have we met before?"

"I… that's odd. I do believe so. I paid a visit to the mall for takeout because they have a really nice food court, and we crossed paths. I invited you along for a quick meal, and you were interested because you were looking for a nice place for you and Undyne to enjoy udon noodles."

* * *

The monsters beg for salvation.

The humans jeer.

The werewolf watches from afar.

* * *

"B-but what was I doing in this mall? I don't remember how I got here…"

"Well, I noticed that you were curled up under a lingerie display inside… a… Victoria's… Secret… department? I… hold on…"

* * *

Creatures of darkness, roaming under a fragile sky.

A brilliant beam of light.

For a single moment, the path forward is clear.

* * *

"U-um… Miss Amherst? Is this really the best time for eating noodles? I mean, this script thingy-"

"Alphys… I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"

"H-Hey! That's… a lot t-to ask from someone you've just met…"

"I know. Believe me, I know."

* * *

A werewolf, a wendigo, and a savoir.

Three unlikely heroes… but why bother?

You've already seen this type of story before…

* * *

"AH! What the HECK are YOU doing here? Haven't you done enough?"

"Shush, shush, shush, Undyne. You look like you've seen a murderer or something."

"That's because you ARE a murderer!"

"Hey, don't be a bigot, you bigot. We wendigos have feelings too, you know. I even came up with a really tragic backstory to make you feel guilty-"

"WHO CARES!? You're still a murderer!"

"So are you."

"EHHHH!?"

"Well, I suppose that depends on how you perceive the nature of death-induced time manipulation… but either way, your king is definitely a murderer… but I don't see you complaining about him."

"Asgore isn't a MURDERER like you!"

"Yes he is."

"No, he ISN'T!"

"Yes he is."

"No, he ISN'T!"

"No, he's not."

"YES, HE IS, AND THAT'S FINAL! HAH! Wait a second… oh, GOD DAMN IT!"

"Heh."

"ARRRGH… NGAHHH!"

"Hm? Oh, is this my cue? Really? We're doing this now? Well, if you insist… Ahem… O, I am slain!"

"Hah… hah… take that, you psychotic bitch…"

"…"

"This… did you do this on purpose? This was SUPPOSED to be a really dramatic and heroic moment for me! And YOU!? You… ruined it…"

* * *

Two forces clashed, tearing the world asunder.

One side held the human souls, forbidden sources of magical might.

One side was the Void, an all-consuming hunger that dwelled within all souls.

Only one could prevail in the end.

* * *

"OH… HELLO! I WASN'T EXPECTING TO SEE YOU HERE, ROYALS GUARDS 01 AND 02."

"Hey, Papyrus. Did you hear? A human blew up Grillby's restaurant."

"UH…"

"So 02 and I decided to stand guard in case any more humans showed up to do racist things or something, because we've got plenty of experience with trying to kill humans and all that jazz."

"UM…"

"…01!?"

"...Huh? What is it, bro? Wait, is that a meteor-"

* * *

The savoir stood as a shining beacon.

She vowed to save the world and the people who called it home.

The world might have been worth saving…

But could the same be said for the people?

* * *

"What exactly are we doing here?"

"we're advancing a plot point, tori."

"Do not call me that, Sans. Also… whatever do you mean by a… plot… point?"

"yeah. welp, we're currently stuck in a bad fanfic that's being written by a spiteful author who hates us, so we have to say self-aware things with really obnoxious lampshade hanging because literally every self-aware post-modern story does it."

"Sans, I do not understand what you are talking about. Why did you bring me to the place that… my ex-husband… now calls home?"

"oh, that's because he got kidnapped by fairies."

"…Excuse me?"

"you're excused, tori."

* * *

The war eventually came to an end.

Countless monsters had perished.

Some humans had died as well, but the monsters didn't care about that because humans suck… in the eyes of both humans and monsters.

But the werewolf had something more important to take care of.

The savoir had disappeared-

* * *

"Kenneth, we need to talk."

"And he spent a very long time searching for her. He succeeded with the help of the wendigo, and they all lived happy ever after."

"Kenneth…"

"But if happy ever afters were that simple… we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Um… I g-get that something really bad is going on… but I'm still confused about w-what I was doing in a mall department for… lingerie."

"Rule of funny?"

"Kenneth."

"Oh, for heaven's sake! Do you really think it's that easy to write something meaningful in this day and age!? I'd like to see you come up with a story that doesn't raise hundreds of complains the instant you dare to post some that's even slightly controversial!"

"No, I don't… but is this really necessary?"

"Of course it isn't… as usual. Sigh. Why did I even bother with creating this story in the first place? In fact, why don't I just go ahead and delete everything now, and then delete the posted chapters just for the heck of it! I bet you'd all love that… wouldn't you."

"Isn't that a bit of an overreaction? There's no need to be so dramatic…"

"Tell that to the jackasses who actually think that pacifism can magically solve every stupid problem that's plagued us since time began!"

"Kenneth!"

"Sarah, look around! We were born into a world where humans and monsters murder each other for countless reasons, and we vowed to change that."

"I know."

"And it didn't work, because we still live in a world where humans and monsters murder each other for countless reasons. Nothing has ever changed, and nothing ever will change."

"I…"

"And this is the part where you remind me that we still have to earn our happy endings… but that's stupid. You can't earn your happy ending if the universe keeps moving the goalposts out of spite."

"…"

"You ask why I do what I do… and I ask… why not? If I'm doomed to lose everything no matter how hard I strive to do the right thing, then what's the fucking point! If I'm going to lose everything no matter what, then why shouldn't I enjoy the few things I have right now? And when the time comes, I'll have a front row seat as all of the people who have ever mocked me… all choke on their hypocrisy and perish."

"Kenneth… this isn't right."

"I know. But there aren't any heroes left who are competent enough to stop us. The death of heroism has seen to that, thanks to all those super-serious deconstructions that can't even be argued with. I'm tired of dealing with people who can't accept that maybe, just maybe… it's okay to not want to be the hero. Because there's more to escapism than wanting to kill people to 'feel like a hero.'"

"Maybe… but…"

"I… I g-got it!"

"Alphys, don't!"

"B-but I have his computer! If I delete everything that's in here, then we can get rid of him!"

"Alphys, just hold on for a second! We can still sort this out."

"Why? I already know that he's just going to kill us off because he hates us! I don't want to die! I don't want Undyne to die! I don't want-"

"Don't be absurd, you stupid lizard! Who said anything about dying… hurk!"

"I never wanted it to come down to this… sorry, Kenneth."

"W-what are you… g-going to… do?"

"I'm going to find a solution for our problem. Of course, whether or not our audience will accept it… is another matter entirely."

"What do y-you mean by that?"

"Well, look at it this way. Have you ever read, 'The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas?'"

"N-no… should I have?"

* * *

Once upon a time, there was a fantasy land full of magic, mystery, and wonder.

There was no racism, bigotry, or prejudice.

Everybody lived in peace, no matter what their species was.

There was no conflict, and everybody lived happily ever after.

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That should be enough.

Why isn't it enough?


	19. Conversations In The White Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories linger, even when we have nothing left to lose.

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Welcome to the White Void.

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You've been living here for as long as you can remember.

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What's with that look?

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Why yes, I did hear the news about OMORI. How did you guess?

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Look, would you have preferred a reference to Lucah: Born of a Dream instead?

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Don't make me open up a portal to Anna's nightmare dimension and sic those demon creatures on you.

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Alright, fine. I was bluffing, because this fanfic isn't exactly a crossover at this point. Let me start over.

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_Toriel Dreemurr_

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The snooty boss monster gave the werewolf a dour look.

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Mostly because she still hated the name, 'Dreemurr.'

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"You are an overbearing shrew and it's funny how you blame everything on Asgore when you're the main reason why he's so cowardly and foolish. He's completely terrified of learning from his mistakes because he gets yelled at all the time by people like you. The henpecked husband comedy routine might work for sitcoms like Everybody Hates Chris, but it's easy to forget the fact that women do horrible things to men just as often as men do horrible things to women."

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_Undyne_

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The fish woman grinded her teeth.

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She opened her mouth to shout-

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_Alphys_

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"U-um… Mister L-Livingston?"

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"Yes?"

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"Why do you h-hate us so much? What did we ever d-do to you?"

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"…You've insulted me for the crime of liking JRPGs. You've ignored any and all forms of criticism directed at you and your friends and family. You've advocated for pacifism and tolerance, but your community doesn't practice what it preaches."

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The werewolf took a deep breath… and clenched his fists.

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"Also, you hurt my friend's child, and it's not in my nature to let that go unanswered. I'm not smart or talented or brave, but if working hard is the only thing I can actually do right, then I'll happily spend the rest of my fictional existence chewing you out for your blatant hypocrisy."

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"B-but… it's wrong for you to single me out like this."

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"Why?"

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The lizard took a deep breath… and clenched her fists.

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"I have low self-esteem, and a-anxiety. I'm a shameless w-weaboo and I love anime. I'm s-super clumsy and I a-always stutter and I hate eye c-contact. I'm s-sensitive to physical discomfort and I h-hate loud noises and it's hard for me to find food and clothing that I e-enjoy, and I love food that's bad for me. I keep the fact that I read hentai to m-myself because I'm too a-ashamed to admit that I like things that everybody else hates. I can't find common ground with anyone my age other than the woman I love. I hate it when people laugh at me. I wish that everybody could just get along with each other. I ramble to myself when nobody's listening. I'm scatterbrained and I always get my thoughts mixed up. Life is always unfamiliar and uncomfortable for me, and I can't control it. I hate myself, and I hate the fact that I can't stop hating myself. All the time. I just want to be… happy. I want to let it all… go."

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So do I.

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_Sans_

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Ha…

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Ha…

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Ha…

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…No.

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Just…

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…No.

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Anyone but him.

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_Papyrus_

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I don't understand you.

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We both know that the world is what it is… and yet you go out of your way to pretend otherwise.

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It's all so… pointless.

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Because you died a pointless death, didn't you?

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_Asgore Dreemurr_

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There's so much I want to say to you.

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There are so many things I want to talk about.

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But I've never been good with words in reality.

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Why would that be different in a fictional land?

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_?_

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"Kenneth! It's time for supper!"

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"Yes, mama! I'm coming!"

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_? ?_

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"What's the matter with you? You waste too much time with your stupid games!"

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"I know."

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_? ? ?_

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"You need to work harder! Fiiiiiiiiiight! If you don't ace this exam, you're going to become a bum! You hear me? A BUM!"

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"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?"

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"DO YOU WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE HOLDING A SIGN ON THE STREET!?""

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No.

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I don't.

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_? ? ? ?_

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"Hey."

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"Yeah?"

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"Why exactly did you come with me on this adventure, anyways?"

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Hm…

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I'd like to say that I have a tragic backstory…

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But that would be a lie.

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And that makes me unhappy.

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I've lived a privileged life.

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I've always had food on the table and a roof over my head.

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I have no right to complain about my woes.

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But I complain anyway, because it's in my nature.

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You might say that I go out of my way to protect myself from things I don't like.

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You might say that I'm obsessed with being successful because I'm afraid of failure.

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You might say that I'm obsessed with perfection… even though it's technically impossible, by definition.

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You might say that I chase after an elusive utopia… because I know it will never become a reality.

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You might say I'm paranoid… because failure is inevitable for everyone.

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You might say that I'm afraid of loss… because we all lose things eventually.

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You might say that I work hard and keep myself busy because I don't want to be seen as a lazy bum like Sans.

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You might say that I distract myself with money and possessions because I don't want people to look down on me simply because of who I am.

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You might say that I act like a stranger in my own home.

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You might say that I force myself to be interested in other people because I desire the tranquility of solitude without facing the misery of being truly alone.

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I want people to be there when I want them around, and I want them to get out of the way when I'm tired of their constant nagging.

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You might say that deep down, I'm nothing more than a rotten, hollow, selfish person.

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And the thing is… you might be right.

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At least, I think you might be right.

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I know that I'm eventually going to fail and suffer and lose everything.

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But I can live with that, because the same fate will eventually befall everyone who's ever mocked me.

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And when that happens, I'll be there to laugh at everyone else for a change… right before everything ends for good.

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That's all, really.

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_? ? ? ? ?_

Christian…

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Serah…

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Lilli…

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Michael…

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Anna…

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Naomi…

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Colin…

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Lucah.

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I think I get it now.


End file.
